SC Order a Blow to Kerala’s Lottery Biz Following the Supreme Court’s verdict barring the State from passing restraints on Sikkim Lotteries, the UDF Government has come under sharp criticism from various quarters for its alleged failure to make a sincere effort to pressure the Centre to amend The Lotteries (Regulation) Act 1998. Top officials of the Taxes Department, on condition of anonymity, said the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) showed little interest to the state government’s appeal to amend the Lottery Rules. “Last year, the State had requested the Centre for an amendment, whereby states have to enter into a bilateral agreement for lottery trade. The MHA did not respond and we failed to initiate any follow-up action,” they said. The state government prevented the other-state lotteries since 2010 citing various technical reasons or previous rule violations, though according to the Central Act, it cannot ‘ban’ other-state lotteries unless it is a lottery-free zone. The Kerala Lottery Agents Association (KLA) said the state government’s insincere approach in this regard raised suspicions. “Everyone knew that the State’s self-enforced ban will be quashed by the Apex Court. Still, the government moved a request in this regard only in 2013 and no follow-up action was taken,” said KLA president Purushothama Bharathi. “It should not have been an uphill task then to get a positive response as the Congress was in power both at the Centre and the State. I wonder whether the verdict has come as a blessing in disguise for the UDF Government,” he said. The Supreme Court’s direction on Sunday to bar the State from passing restraints against the “organising, conduct and promotion” of Sikkim Lotteries in the State came on an appeal filed by the state government. The appeal was against the HC order quashing a show-cause notice issued by the Commercial Taxes assistant commissioner against A John Kennedy, an accused in the lottery fraud cases being investigated by the CBI Kochi unit. Kennedy is a business associate and brother-in-law of lottery king Santiago Martin. In the wake of the SC verdict, the Taxes officials said it would not be easy for the government to strike down new applications. A similar setback could also be expected in the SC case on the ban on online lotteries, they said. “Only two options are left for the State - either to stop all lotteries, including state lotteries, or to allow all,” they said. Since 2010, the State has been receiving requests for sale of lotteries of Goa, Nagaland and Bodoland. Goa did not respond to a letter seeking comprehensive details regarding their applications, while Nagaland’s request is pending before the Kerala High Court. Bodoland’s request was turned down citing that only states could apply. But recently, the MHA directed the government to consider the request pointing that Bodoland had the requisite authority.
Posted on: Sat, 02 Aug 2014 04:29:38 +0000
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