The Supreme Court on Monday dismissed a petition challenging the legality of state-run lotteries and seeking a ban on Nagaland State Lottery. A division bench of Justices L. Nageswara Rao and B.R. Gavai gave a patient hearing to the petitioner-in-person Md. Tohid Alam, who had requested the court to permit him to argue in Hindi and the same was allowed.
“Kya ye band hoga, ye kanuni hai ya gair kanuni?”(Will it end, is it legal or illegal?) asked Tohid Alam, beginning his arguments. Justice Rao advised him to approach the High Court, Tohid Alam replied the said lottery had been operating in multiple states and enquired if notice would be issued in the petition.
The Central Government via the Lotteries (Regulation) Act 1998, has authorized each state to formulate their own laws regarding lotteries and hence its legality varies from state to state. In India, 13 states permit lotterie: they are Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Goa, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Punjab, Sikkim and West Bengal.