Online lotteries also under fire
The Times of India reports that Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis has declined to give the go-ahead to a long-stalled casino act in the Indian state.
“At least for now, chief minister has refused to approve the file, which means he is not interested in legalizing it. The file has been pending for almost a month now,” a senior officer in the chief minister’s office told the publication.
The state government was expected to make a decision on legalizing casinos by May following an order from the Bombay High Court. Earlier this year, gaming lawyer Jay Satya discovered that the Maharashtra Casinos Control and Tax Act, approved in 1976, was never ratified. Currently, Goa and Sikkim are the only two states that allow casinos in India.
Meanwhile, according to the Asia Gaming Brief, the court has ordered the government to file an affidavit or close all online lotteries. The edict was handed down because the local government has not filed a reply over litigation filed by Chandan Trivedi calling for an immediate ban of unauthorized online lotteries.
Trivedi’s public interest litigation alleges that more than 1,300 unauthorized online lotteries operate in the state. The PIL further noted that the government officially permits only 13 online lotteries. So far these operators have caused a loss of Rs933 crore (US$148.8 million) to the state in unpaid taxes, charged the petitioner.
