Feature
Tamil Nadu seeks recall of SC ban on CM’s photos in ads
New Delhi: The Tamil Nadu government has moved the Supreme Court seeking the review of its verdict prohibiting the use of photographs of chief ministers in advertisements issued by state governments.
The apex court by its May 13 judgment banned use of the photographs of ministers, chief ministers and governors and only permitted the use of the photographs of the president, prime minister and the chief justice of India in government ads.
The verdict, sought to be revisited by the Tamil Nadu government, said that use of the photographs of any political leader has a tendency of associating that individual with the achievements sought to be highlighted, and has the “potential of developing the personality cult” around a leader. This, the court said, was a “direct antithesis of democratic functioning”.
Contesting the verdict, the Tamil Nadu government has said the judgment was against the federal structure of the country’s governance which gives parity between the Centre and the states.
Seeking the verdict be set aside, the Tamil Nadu government contended that chief ministers and governors too were constitutional positions and enjoyed executive equivalence in the matters of the state. Thus, their photographs could not be ruled out of the government advertisements issued by the state governments or its agencies.
Describing the verdict as a judicial intrusion into policy-making domain of the executive, the state government asserted that the party in power has the right to carry the chief minister’s photograph in a government advertisement focusing on the achievements of the government.
The Tamil Nadu government has said that the Prof. N.R. Madhava Nair Committee, which was asked by the apex court to go onto the matter, recommended photographs of the president, prime minister, governors and chief ministers be allowed in the advertisements.
However, the apex court, while making exception in respect of the president, prime minister and the chief justice of India, excluded use of photographs of chief ministers and governors from the government ads.
The May 13 verdict came on petitions by NGOs Common Cause and Centre for Public INterest Litigation (CPIL), seeking directions to restrain the central and state governments from using public funds on government advertisements that were primarily intended to project individual functionaries of the government or the party in power.
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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