Feature
SC refuses to lift stay on remission to convicts
New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Wednesday refused to vacate its July 2014 order restraining all state governments from releasing life term convicts by exercising their remission powers as it rejected the plea by Tamil Nadu, West Bengal and others.
The constitution bench comprising Chief Justice H.L.Dattu and Justice Fakkir Mohamed Ibrahim Kalifulla, Justice Pinaki Chandra Ghose, Justice Abhay Manohar Sapre and Justice Uday Umesh Lalit rejected the plea by these states and a few individual prisoners seeking the lifting of the stay on the grounds that many life term convicts are languishing in prisons even after completing 20 years.
It was suggested by counsel seeking the July 2014 interim order’s vacation that the stay should be lifted in the cases investigated by the state police and should remain confined to the cases investigated by the CBI and under central laws.
Appearing for the convicts in Rajiv Gandhi assassination case, senior counsel Ram Jethmalani raised preliminary objections to the central government’s plea challenging the Tamil Nadu government’s move to release V. Sriharan alias Murugan, A.G. Perarivalan alias Arivu and T. Suthendraraja alias Santhan.
The others who were sought to be released included Jayakumar, Nalini and Ravichandran.
The court was told that central government could not have moved the apex court invoking the constitution’s article 32, which provides for remedies for enforcement of fundamental rights, challenging the Tamil Nadu government decision to grant remission of sentence and release Rajiv Gandhi assassins.
Jethmalani said that seven issues framed by the three judges bench on April 25, 2014 that had referred the matter to the constitution bench have no relevance to the facts of the case relating to Rajiv Gandhi assassins.
He said that if the preliminary issue is decided, then there may not be any necessity of dealing with the merits of the case. Jethmalani was joined by senior counsel Rakesh Dwivedi, appearing for Tamil Nadu and West Bengal, raising similar objections.
However, the court referred to the issue number one referred to the constitution bench for consideration which seeks know whether life term means life or is limited to a particular period.
“Unless we determine the issue, that we are going to hear, either you come out or don’t come out,” the court observed as it adjourned the hearing till July 21.
One of the seven questions framed the bench of the then Chief Justice P.Sathasivam, Justice Ranjan Gogoi and Justice N.V.Ramana in their April 25, 2014 judgment was whether after commutation of the death sentence into life imprisonment either by the president, governor or court, can the government go further to grant them remission and release them.
The question was rooted in the conflicting positions taken by the central and Tamil Nadu governments on whether after the commutation of death sentence into life imprisonment, could the Rajiv Gandhi assassins or similarly placed convicts be granted remission and consequent release.
The constitution bench was further asked to examine whether there could be a special category wherein after death penalty has been commuted to life imprisonment, such a convict is put beyond the applicability of remission of sentence and he would remain behind the bar in excess of life term of 14 years.
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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