Mokokchung, August 17 (MTNews): The Supreme Court on Tuesday issued notice on a plea filed by the Nagaland Government challenging the Kerala Paper Lotteries (Regulation) Amendment Rules, 2018, which bring the lotteries organized, promoted, and conducted by other States within the regulatory powers of the State of Kerala.
After hearing arguments from Solicitor General Tushar Mehta and Advocate Rohini Musa, a bench of Justices KM Joseph and Hrishikesh Roy issued notice in the plea.
The Kerala High Court has upheld the constitutionality of the Kerala Paper Lotteries (Regulation) Amendment Rules, 2018, which bring lotteries organized, promoted, and conducted by other states under the regulatory jurisdiction of Kerala.
According to the petition filed with the Supreme Court, the High Court failed to acknowledge that the said Rules only empower the State Government to make Rules pertaining to the organization, promotion, marketing, conducting, and sale of its own lotteries within its territorial jurisdiction.
It stated that, “by no stretch of imagination could such powers be extended by a State Government, viz., the State of Kerala herein, to organize and regulate the conducting of the lotteries of all other States, as are being offered for sale within its territories.”
The State of Kerala is allegedly trying to monitor, regulate, and penalize other States’ lotteries that are held within its territories, according to the Nagaland Government’s argument regarding the 2018 Rules. The petition stated that this was not only against the basic notions of Federalism as recognized and celebrated in the Constitution but is also in direct violation of the Lotteries (Regulation) Act and Rules, the plea read.
Additionally, it was argued in the plea that the aforementioned Rules are only a tool used by the State of Kerala to ferret out the commercial and trade secrets of other States that are successful in the running of their lottery schemes, and that they are a clear violation of the provisions of the Lotteries (Regulation) Act, 1998.
“The High Court order has allowed the State of Kerala to remain a monopoly in respect of the sale of lotteries within the State of Kerala when this Hon’ble Court has clearly held that once a State is not a lottery-free zone, it cannot directly or indirectly stop/restrict/control/regulate the sale of other States’ lotteries within its own territory”, the plea added. The case is titled: State of Nagaland & Ors Vs The State of Kerala & Ors.