Feature
SC extends bail of Teesta, husband till January 31
New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Tuesday extended, till January 31, bail of social activist Teesta Setalvad and her husband Javed Anand in the case of alleged misuse of funds collected by their NGO Sabrang Trust for a museum at a spot witnessing one of the worst massacres in the 2002 Gujarat riots.
Extending the bail, a bench of Justice Anil R. Dave, Justice Fakkir Mohammed Ibrahim Kalifulla and Justice V. Gopala Gowda issued notice to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Setalvad’s plea challenging that part of the Bombay High Court verdict holding there was some misuse of funds received by the trust from Ford Foundation and thus were in breach of the Foreign Contribution Regulation Act.
The high court in its August 11, 2015 order had said that “prima facie, after hearing the submissions and after going through the documents placed before it, it appears that there is some misuse of amount they received from the Foundation for which the applicants accused are undoubtedly answerable.”
“As per the case of prosecution, at this initial stage, it is accepted that the money received is a contribution and therefore the acceptance and utilization of the said amount requires regulation under the Act and therefore there is violation of the provisions of the Act.”
Citing this part of the verdict, senior counsel Kapil Sibal, appearing for the couple, contended that there was no basis for the high court to say so and the same was to be determined by the trial court after examining the case on merits.
In their petition, Setalvad and Anand said it “pertains to the limited extent of observations made by the high court, which are questions of merits, to be determined at the stage of the trial after examining the relevant documents and evidence with regard to the same”.
Having issued notice to CBI, the apex court said that it would hold hearing on the petitions both by Setalvad and CBI on January 21.
On October 14, the court had issued notice to Setalvad and Anand on CBI’s plea challenging the high court’s August 11 order granting the duo anticipatory bail holding that their activities posed no threat to the integrity of the country.
The high court held that the documents being sought by the CBI relates to accounts and therefore do not require custodial interrogation and both were unlikely to flee the country.
CBI has alleged that the Sabrang Communications and Publishing Pvt run by Setalvad received foreign grants from Ford Foundation which were prohibited under then Foreign Contribution Regulation Act (FCRA).
Setalvad and Anand were granted bail by the apex court on February 19 as it restrained the Gujarat Police from arresting them, after they moved it against the Gujarat High Court’s February 12 order declining them anticipatory bail in the alleged misuse of funds case.
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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