Feature
SC to hear plea against its bar on leaders’ photos in government ads
New Delh: The Supreme Court on Tuesday refused to allow West Bengal and Assam to use photographs of their chief ministers and governors in overnment ads saying that it would hear in January the petitions including by the centre seeking the review of its verdict restricting use of photographs to those of the president, prime minister, and chief justice of India.
A bench of Justice Ranjan Gogoi and Justice Pinaki Chandra Ghose declined to pass any order as senior counsel Kapil Sibal seeking parity with the federal government pressed for the nod to use of the chief minister and governor’s photographs in state governments’ ads.
Declining the plea of Sibal, who had appeared for West Bengal and Assam government, the bench said that it would hear the batch of petitions seeking the review of its May 13, 2015, order on January 12, 2016.
The plea by the West Bengal, Assam and Tamil Nadu assumes significance as three states are going to polls next year.
The plea by the central government and the six state governments seeking the recall of the May 13 order was opposed by the counsel Prashant Bhushan and Meera Bhatia who had appeared for the NGOs Centre for Public Interest Litigation and the Common Cause.
Bhatia said that they are opposed to any review of the May 13 order as they are even against the use of the prime minister’s photographs in government ads.
The apex court’s May 13 verdict had come on the plea by the NGOs CPIL, Common Cause and others pointing to widespread misuse of public funds for promoting leaders of the party in power.
Prior to the central government’s plea seeking the review of the May 13 order, Karnataka, West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Assam, Uttar Pradesh and Odisha had moved the court seeking recall of the order restricting the use of photographs to three constitutional functionaries in advertisements issued by the government and its agencies.
The court had also carved out exceptions, allowing use of the photographs of deceased leaders, including Father of the Nation Mahatma Gandhi.
While the central and the Uttar Pradesh government has sought the revisiting of the May 13 order in its entirety, other states had questioned it on the grounds of its being against the federal structure which gives parity between the centre and the states.
The state governments had contended that it was a judicial intrusion into policy making domain of the executive, and a party in power had the right to carry the chief minister’s photograph in government ads focusing on the achievements of the government.
The apex court by its May 13 verdict had however said: “Photographs have the potential of developing the personality cult and the image of a one or a few individuals which is a direct antithesis of democratic functioning.”
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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