The Hindu : Kerala News : Lottery case: Achuthanandan moves apex court

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Sunday, Jan 09, 2005

Kerala

Kerala

Lottery case: Achuthanandan moves apex court

By Our Special Correspondent

NEW DELHI, JAN. 8 . The Leader of the Opposition in the Kerala Assembly, V.S. Achuthanandan, has filed a petition in the Supreme Court seeking to implead himself in the appeal filed by the Meghalaya Government against a Kerala High Court order banning lotteries in the State.

In his petition, filed in public interest, Mr. Achuthanandan contended that the State Government had not brought out the correct facts before the court and that there were serious allegations that the son of the State Finance Minister was an agent of the lotteries till October 2004. He said that the horrifying aspect of the case was that sales tax to the tune of Rs. 5,000 crores was due and the State was conniving with the defaulters. It did not initiate any action to collect the same.

Blames Government

He alleged that the State Government had at the instance of the former Director of the State Lotteries sent a voluminous report indicating all the problems but this information was not produced in the State's response to Meghalaya's appeal in the apex court. He said he wanted to bring out the alleged collusion of the State Government in not checking the proliferating and mushrooming lottery business.

People ruined

The petitioner submitted that draw-of-lots were conducted every minute in Kerala and thousands of people were ruined financially because of these lotteries. This had led to the ruin of many and hundreds of suicides had taken place. He said that printing and selling of the lotteries were the prerogative of the State Governments under the Lotteries Regulation Act. As per the Act, there shall not be more than one draw-of-lots per week.

However, many private agencies allegedly engaged by the North-Eastern States had become monopoly traders in the State, he said.

Acting on a bunch of writ petitions, the High Court had banned the lotteries in the State. Aggrieved against this judgment, the State of Meghalaya filed an appeal in the Supreme Court and that was still pending. Since several questions of law of public importance were involved in this case, Mr. Achuthanandan sought permission to implead himself in the appeal.

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