The Hindu : Karnataka / Bangalore News : State to file petition in Supreme Court

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Jul 05, 2006

Karnataka

Karnataka - Bangalore

State to file petition in Supreme Court

Staff Reporter

It will challenge order setting aside ban on online lotteries

BANGALORE: The State Government has decided to file a special leave petition in the Supreme Court challenging the order of the Karnataka High Court, which set aside the ban on the sale of online lotteries.

The Governments of Meghalaya and Sikkim and others had challenged the State notification of July 24, 2004 banning online lotteries while permitting its own lotteries.

On June 2, 2006, a Special Division Bench, which was constituted after the Supreme Court remitted the matter to the High Court, set aside the ban.

Refusing to accept the State's definition of a lottery, the High Court had held that only a State that banned all lotteries could claim to be a lottery-free zone. Citing a Supreme Court order (B.R. Enterprises and the State of Uttar Pradesh) the court had said that the law was very well settled in this regard and it was binding on all the parties.

The Special Leave Petition states that the writ is not maintainable as per Article 131 of the Constitution. It claims that lottery is nothing but a form of gambling.

Online lotteries have caused untold misery to the people, and it is for this reason that the Government had banned it.

It states that Karnataka has been declared a lottery-free zone. It could exercise power under the Central Lotteries Act to ban online lotteries.

It further contends that the Supreme Court was not aware of online lotteries when gave its ruling in the B.R. Enterprises case.

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