Petitions challenging the operations of offshore casinos and online lotteries have been filed in two local courts in India.
Social activist Kashinath Shetye has filed a petition questioning the legality of the offshore casinos’ operation in River Mandovi before the High Court of Bombay at Goa, according to a report of Herald Goa.
The petitioner contends that none of the offshore casinos in River Mandovi have CRZ permission which is required for their operation. Sheteye is convinced that the court should stop the operations of the said offshore casinos for being illegal.
He cited the licenses issued to the concerned casino operators, which stated that offshore casinos should be anchored at least 12 nautical miles from the shore.
The High Court of Bombay, for its part, admitted the public interest litigation (PIL) and granted an amicus curiae to the petitioner.
The court has served notices to 17 parties, including three casino operators, the Chief Secretary, Under Secretary Home, Captain of Ports, Director of Fisheries, Ministry of Environment and Forests, Marine Police, Department of Tourism, GCZMA, GSPCB, Collector and Deputy Collector.
The High Court has set the next hearing on October 4.
In another case, the High Court of Bombay accepted a PIL for final hearing of petitioner Chandan Trivedi, who is demanding an immediate ban on unauthorized and alluring online lotteries in Maharashtra.
However, Trivedi failed to get any interim relief from a division bench comprises Justice Vasanti Naik and Indira Jain, according to The Times of India. The court, on the other hand, warned the government to either file an affidavit or close all such lotteries during the last hearing.
Earlier, the state government announced that it raked a revenue of 740 crores (US$111.22 million) through online lotteries and had published a list of those operating them. It stated that rules are in place to regulate them.
According to lottery rules framed by Maharashtra government, it’s mandatory for operators to pay advance tax on all types of online lotteries in the state.
But, the lottery companies challenged legality of rules and the high court had given an interim stay on it. Taking advantage of it, the online lottery companies from outside states avoided payment of tax to the tune of Rs. 933.14 crores (US$ 140.25 million) during 2007-2009.
