Feature
CBI seeks strict adherence of jail code for Madan Mitra
Kolkata: Claiming that arrested West Bengal Transport Minister Madan Mitra was enjoying undue benefits inside the jail, the CBI Friday sought the court’s intervention in ensuring the authorities strictly adhere to the jail code.
Arrested in the multi-crore rupee Saradha scam, the Trinamool Congress leader has been lodged at the Alipore Correctional Home where he is said to be using mobile phone, home cooked food as well frequently meeting his family.
“The jail code is not strictly followed and the minister is allowed to enjoy undue benefits. The court should direct the jail authorities to ensure that the jail code is strictly adhered to,” a CBI counsel told the court of Judicial Magistrate M.K. Roy before which Mitra was presented after the expiry of his judicial custody.
“Besides being allowed to use a mobile phone, he is being provided home-cooked food regularly and frequently allowed to meet his family members. This is gross violation of the jail code, so we have sought the court’s intervention,” the CBI counsel said.
The court yet again denied Mitra bail and extended his judicial custody till Jan 16.
Mitra was arrested Dec 12 for his alleged complicity in the scam including conspiring with Saradha chief and scam kingpin Sudipta Sen and deriving huge financial benefits.
People have also frowned upon Mitra’s earlier stay at the government run SSKM Hospital where he was admitted Dec 19, the very day he was sent to judicial custody after being in the CBI remand for six days.
He was taken back to the Alipore jail Dec 27 with SSKM doctors discharging him after his medical examinations revealed “nothing significant”.
Suspended Trinamool MP Kunal Ghosh, who too is behind bars, had compared Mitra’s stay at the SSKM as being in a hotel.
“I am in jail and someone is in a hotel. He is talking over mobile phone. He has been kept in a hospita…l he is the president of Rogi Kalyan Samiti (Patients Welfare Committee). Someone is being treated royally,” Ghosh had told a court earlier.
Slamming police for giving preferential treatment to Mitra, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has threatened to seek legal recourse.
“Why is preferential treatment being meted out to Mitra by police? Why he is taken to court in a police car instead of prison van? If the police don’t refrain from this preferential treatment, we will approach the court,” state BJP president Rahul Sinha said Friday.
The State Scores Extra High on Gaming-Friendly Industry Index
Meghalaya scored 92.85 out of 100 possible points in a Gaming Industry Index and proved to be India’s most gaming-friendly state following its recent profound legislation changes over the field allowing land-based and online gaming, including games of chance, under a licensing regime.
The index by the UK India Business Council (UKIBC) uses a scale of 0 to 100 to measure the level of legalisation on gambling and betting achieved by a state based on the scores over a set of seven different games – lottery, horse racing, betting on sports, poker, rummy, casino and fantasy sports
Starting from February last year, Meghalaya became the third state in India’s northeast to legalise gambling and betting after Sikkim and Nagaland. After consultations with the UKIBC, the state proceeded with the adoption of the Meghalaya Regulation of Gaming Act, 2021 and the nullification of the Meghalaya Prevention of Gambling Act, 1970. Subsequently in December, the Meghalaya Regulation of Gaming Rules, 2021 were notified and came into force.
All for the Tourists
The move to legalise and license various forms of offline and online betting and gambling in Meghalaya is aimed at boosting tourism and creating jobs, and altogether raising taxation revenues for the northeastern state. At the same time, the opportunities to bet and gamble legally will be reserved only for tourists and visitors.
“We came out with a Gaming Act and subsequently framed the Regulation of Gaming Rules, 2021. The government will accordingly issue licenses to operate games of skill and chance, both online and offline,” said James P. K. Sangma, Meghalaya State Law and Taxation Minister speaking in the capital city of Shillong. “But the legalized gambling and gaming will only be for tourists and not residents of Meghalaya,” he continued.
To be allowed to play, tourists and people visiting the state for work or business purposes will have to prove their non-resident status by presenting appropriate documents, in a process similar to a bank KYC (Know Your Customer) procedure.
Meghalaya Reaches Out to a Vast Market
With 140 millions of people in India estimated to bet regularly on sports, and a total of 370 million desi bettors around prominent sporting events, as per data from one of the latest reports by Esse N Videri, Meghalaya is set to reach out and take a piece of a vast market.
Estimates on the financial value of India’s sports betting market, combined across all types of offline channels and online sports and cricket predictions and betting platforms, speak about amounts between $130 and $150 billion (roughly between ₹9.7 and ₹11.5 lakh crore).
Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and Delhi are shown to deliver the highest number of bettors and Meghalaya can count on substantial tourists flow from their betting circles. The sports betting communities of Karnataka, Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh and Haryana are also not to be underestimated.
Among the sports, cricket is most popular, registering 68 percent of the total bet count analyzed by Esse N Videri. Football takes second position with 11 percent of the bets, followed by betting on FIFA at 7 percent and on eCricket at 5 percent. The last position in the Top 5 of popular sports for betting in India is taken by tennis with 3 percent of the bet count.
Local Citizens will Still have Their Teer Betting
Meghalaya residents will still be permitted to participate in teer betting over arrow-shooting results. Teer is a traditional method of gambling, somewhat similar to a lottery draw, and held under the rules of the Meghalaya Regulation of the Game of Arrow Shooting and the Sale of Teer Tickets Act, 2018.
Teer includes bettors wagering on the number of arrows that reach the target which is placed about 50 meters away from a team of 20 archers positioned in a semicircle.
The archers shoot volleys of arrows at the target for ten minutes, and players place their bets choosing a number between 0 and 99 trying to guess the last two digits of the number of arrows that successfully pierce the target.
If, for example, the number of hits is 256, anyone who has bet on 56 wins an amount eight times bigger than their wager.
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