Kerala: Lottery mafia has central backing

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: While various state governments and their representatives are facing heat over a couple of cases under consideration of the Supreme Court and the CBI probe into the alleged irregularities in the conduct of other-state and online lotteries in Kerala, the State Lotteries Department has received a surprising set of directions from the Centre.   The guidelines issued by the Ministry of Home Affairs have termed the rule violations committed by some state governments as ‘’inadvertent and from the improper understanding of the Lotteries Act.’’ The guidelines have come as a surprise to the state officials since the Lotteries (Regulations) Act 1998 has clearly stated penal provisions, including rigorous imprisonment and fine for the violators.The MHA letter dated  August 2, 2011 has set down directions in four sections; the third one refers to inter-state disputes. Its sub-section reads: “It has also come to the notice of this ministry that many of these violations are often inadvertent and result from improper understanding of the Act and the rules.”According to the Lotteries Rules 2010, the responsibility of organising lottery in a state is designated with an officer not below the rank of a Government Secretary. “It is surprising that the MHA feels that a Government Secretary could inadvertently commit such a huge mistake for such a long time,” said a senior officer with the state government.However, the real surprise is in the fourth section. In its tenth sub-clause MHA hints at a way forward to the states where single, double and triple digit lotteries were sold in violation of the rules.The one-line advice is: “In case any such lotteries are still being organised, these may be withdrawn forthwith”.Clearly, it doesn’t matter to the MHA that the CBI is probing 32 cases of gross violation of Lotteries Act. Neither does it seem to matter to it that the Kerala High Court and even the Supreme Court has intervened in the matter.“Now, it seems that the Centre wants the state and many of us who were affected by the illegal lottery trade to pardon the ‘innocent violators’.