Under the Patents Act, 1970, an application is examined for the patentability criteria by

Under section 12 of the Patents Act, 1970, once a request for examination is made the Controller refers the application to one of the patent examiners, who examine it for novelty, inventive step, industrial applicability and the other requirements and report to the Controller. The Controller then decides on that report, but does not carry out the examination; patent agents only act for applicants, and the Appellate Board was abolished in 2021.