Feature
SC notice to Advani, Joshi over Babri demolition
New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Tuesday issued notice to BJP leaders L.K. Advani and Murli Manohar Joshi and 17 others on a petition challenging the Allahabad High Court verdict discharging them of criminal conspiracy in the demolition of the Babri Masjid in 1992.
Besides the two, union minister Uma Bharti and Rajasthan Governor Kalyan Singh — who was Uttar Pradesh chief minister when the mosque was razed — have also been issued notice.
The Allahabad High Court on May 20, 2010 absolved them of the charge of criminal conspiracy that led to the razing of the 16th century mosque in the Uttar Pradesh town of Ayodhya on December 6, 1992.
An apex court bench of Chief Justice H.L. Dattu and Justice Arun Mishra issued the notice as counsel Kapil Sibal told the court that a fresh application had been moved by Haji Mahboob Ahmed challenging the high court verdict.
The apex court also gave the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) four weeks to get the papers to support its case challenging the discharge of Advani and others.
Additional Solicitor General Neeraj Kishan Kaul told the apex court that the CBI had filed an affidavit explaining the delay in filing the petition challenging the high court ruling.
The apex court, while noting that delay in filing the petition by the CBI was on account of its drafting and approval by the central government’s senior law officer, said that the then bench of Justice H.L. Dattu and Justice Jagdish Singh Khehar on February 4, 2013 had asked the government to file an affidavit to explain the reasons for the delay.
Allowing four weeks’ time, the court said it would hear the matter on the question of both delay and merits.
The CBI moved the apex court on February 18, 2011, nearly nine months after the Allahabad High Court verdict. The notice on the CBI plea was issued on March 3, 2011.
The CBI said in its appeal before the apex court that the high court ruling discharging Advani and others of the offence of criminal conspiracy “is inconsistent with the previous judgment rendered by the Allahabad High Court on February 12, 2001”.
The Lucknow bench of the Allahabad High Court had held that the trial court committed no illegality in taking “cognizance of joint consolidated chargesheet” and “all the offences were committed in the course of the same transaction to accomplish the conspiracy”.
The high court had noted that the “evidence for all the offences was almost the same”.
The other accused in the case include Vinay Katiyar, Ashok Singhal, Giriraj Kishore, Hari Dalmiya, Uma Bharti, Sadhvi Rithambara and Mahant Avaidyanath.
Giriraj Kishore and Mahant Avaidyanath have passed away, and their names will be taken off.
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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