Centre bans Sikkim lottery tickets in state

Kochi . Nearly seven years after the state government raised the issue of lottery violations, the Centre has clamped a ban on the sale of Sikkim lottery tickets for two years.The ban has been imposed on the grounds that the agents of Sikkim Lottery were conducting business in violation of the Central Lottery Regulation Act. The ban will come into force on January 2.The Finance Minister, Mr K. M. Mani, said that the Centre’s decision was based on the demand for a ban made by the state government.

However, an official ban has been in force since June, from the time the UDF government refused to renew the registration of Megha Distributors, the Kerala distributor of Bhutan and Sikkim lotteries, and had cancelled the registration of all the subsidiaries under Santiago Martin's Monica Distributors.Bhutan had earlier nullified its contract with Monica Distributors.

The LDF Government’s attempts to cancel the registration had ended in a legal imbroglio. The LDF Government had even promulgated the Kerala Tax on Paper Lotteries Amendment Ordinance.But Megha found ways to dodge demands made by the ordinance. Complaints of rule violations by other-state lotteries were first raised by the 2005 UDF government under Oommen Chandy.

( Source - Deccan Chronicle)