Possessing a spurious ISI mark is not an offence unless its use is proved, Kerala High Court holds

27 October 2026

The Kerala High Court, in Bureau of Indian Standards v. M/s. Mars Veneers and Boards and Others, has held that merely possessing a spurious ISI mark is not punishable under the Bureau of Indian Standards Act, 1986. Justice A. Badharudeen held that Sections 11(1) and 12(b) of that Act, read with Section 33, penalise the use of a standard mark, not its mere possession. The Court noted that the statute is worded to punish use, so the prosecution must prove that the mark was actually used on goods. The Bureau of Indian Standards is the national standards body of India, set up under the BIS Act, 2016, and the ISI mark is the certification mark it issues for products that conform to an Indian Standard. The ruling therefore turns on what exactly a penal provision of a consumer-standards statute covers.