1972 (8) TMI 123

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....ces all the four economically known varieties of silk, viz., mulberry silk, eri silk, tasar silk and muga silk. While India ranks fourth in the world monopoly in regard to the production of muga silk, the silk production industry is predominantly an agro-industry. Silk production is a four-tier process-mulberry cultivation, cocoon raising, raw silk reeling and silk weaving. While the first two stages are integrated with agriculture, the latter two come under the industrial sector. Of the four species, mulberry is grown in India. Indian mulberry cocoons have on an average 200 to 300 metres of reelable silk filament and the cocoon raw silk ratio (renditta) in filatures ranges from 17 to 20. About 75 per cent. of the total mulberry silk pro....

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....India's "charka" or "ghai" are such primitive appliances. It is perhaps necessary also to know as to how the cocoons throw out the silk filaments. When the silk worm reaches its maximum growth, it ceases to eat, diminishes in weight, changes from a greenish white to creamy white colour and looks for a suitable spot to anchor its silk filament. The ripe worms are then picked up and mounted on straw trusses, a cocoonage. From a pair of glands running the length of the body it emits through the spinneret a viscous solution which comes out as silk filament. By throwing silk filaments in all directions the restless worm first builds a hammock to support the future cocoon. After a short rest the master spinner sets to spin the cocoon around it....

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....reeled and made as fibre for use for preparing silk cloth is also said to be a handspun silk yarn. Merely because the cocoons in the manner described above throw out silk filaments, it cannot be said that the entire process of picking out these filaments, twisting them and reeling the fibre on a charka, which process is also done by hand is not a hand-spun silk yarn. It is also highly doubtful whether the throwing out of filaments by cocoons can be said to be a process of spinning by the cocoons. In this respect the difference between the silk filament and the silk yarn must be borne in mind. It is seen from the various bills and memos. produced by the petitioners that in the trade circles this production is known as hand-spun silk ya....