Feature
HC to hear plea against AAP parliamentary secretaries
New Delhi: The Delhi High Court on Wednesday said it would hear on May 20 a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) filed against the Arvind Kejriwal-led government’s move to appoint 21 Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) MLAs as parliamentary secretaries.
A division bench of Chief Justice G. Rohini and Justice R.S. Endlaw said it would hear the plea on May 20.
The PIL, filed by NGO Rashtriya Mukti Morcha, questioned the appointments and sought the court’s intervention.
The PIL filed against Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, central government and MLAs appointed as parliamentary secretaries asked the court to scrap the appointments, questioning their legal validity under provisions of the constitution and rules governing Delhi administration.
Soon after coming to power, the Kejriwal-led government issued an order to appoint 21 AAP MLAs as parliamentary secretaries attached to government ministries.
The government claimed this will facilitate smooth functioning but made it clear they will not receive any remuneration or perks of any kind from the government — meaning no burden on the exchequer.
The order, however, permits them to use government transport for official purposes and earmarked space in the minister’s office to help them in official work.
Seeking quashing of the order issued on April 13 by Kejriwal, the plea said the appointments were “unconstitutional, illegal and without jurisdiction”.
It also said that the chief minister has “no power, jurisdiction or authority” under the Constitution of India or any other legislative enactment to administer oath of office to parliament secretaries.
The PIL said the order issued by chief minister is invalid since all executive act ion or order issued by department of NCT Delhi are to be issued in the name of the lieutenant governor and authenticated in the prescribed manner.
It further asked for the court’s direction to restrain these MLAs from acting as parliamentary secretaries till the final adjudication of the case.
Some of the MLAs appointed as parliamentary secretaries by Arvind Kejriwal include Praveen Kumar to the education minister, Sharad Kumar to the revenue minister, Adarsh Shastri to the IT minister, Madan Lal to the vigilance minister, Charan Goel to the finance minister, Sanjeev Jha to the transport minister, Sarita Singh to the employment minister, Naresh Yadav to the labour minister, Jarnail Singh to the development minister and Rajesh Gupta to the health minister.
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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