Top

Finance minister Dr T M Thomas Isaac wins lottery battle

Mizoram govt withdraws lotteries.

Thiruvananthapuram: Finance minister Dr T M Thomas Isaac seems to have had the last laugh in his no-holds-barred fight against lottery king Santiago Martin. Just when it seemed that Martin’s Teesta Distributors will fight it out in the court, the Mizoram Government has issued an order withdrawing the conduct of its lottery in Kerala with immediate effect on September 5. “Though the order was issued on September 5, the government had received the order only on September 15,” an official statement said.

The State Government’s fight against Mizoram lottery had taken a roller-coaster course. On August 2, the day Kerala threatened legal action against Mizoram for organising lotteries in the state flouting all established norms, the Mizoram's Finance Department issued a notification nullifying a July 24 notification it had issued for the sale of its lottery in Kerala. The sale of Mizoram lottery was promptly put on hold. But, in a fight back of sorts, the Mizoram government withdrew the notification by the end of the month on August 30. In between Teesta Distributors had approached the High Court questioning Kerala’s stand.
The State Government, however, sustained its pressure on Mizoram.

And now, five days later after, Mizoram has once again withdrawn its lottery scheme. The state, in a missive sent to Mizoram and the Centre, had detailed a series of violations committed by Mizoram government and its promoter Teesta Distributors, and threatened punishment under section 7(1) of Lotteries (Regulation) Act. It was the duty of the organsising state to consult the host state before launching any new lottery scheme, and also to comply with the provisions of the Lottery (Regulations) Act, 1998.

The Mizoram Government had sent a letter to the state Chief Secretary only after putting out advertisements of their lottery schemes in print and online media. Also, it did not contain mandatory information like the number of draws or the press in which the lottery tickets were printed. The state also charged Mizoram government with violating all the major provisions of the Lotteries Regulation Act. A major violation that Kerala has pointed out was the failure of Teesta to transfer all the sales proceeds to the Consolidated Fund of Mizoram as mandated by the Act.

( Source : Deccan Chronicle. )
Next Story