Feature
UP government passes order to withdraws case against CM Yogi Adityanath
Lucknow: The Uttar Pradesh government has today decided to withdraw a case filed in 1995 against Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and Union Minister Shiv Pratap Shukla.
In a relief for Chief Minister, the UP government has ordered withdrawal of a 1995 case in which he, Shiv Pratap Shukla (now Minister of State for Finance at the Centre), Sheetal Pandey (BJP MLA from Sahajanwa) and ten others were booked for violating prohibitory orders.
This comes even as the state government had tabled the Uttar Pradesh Criminal Law (Composition of Offences and Abatement of Trials) (Amendment) Bill, 2017 on December 21st.
The CM Adityanath had announced that the state government would withdraw 20,000 political cases slapped on various people for reasons like staging a demonstration and holding protests in recent past.
While debating on the UPCOCA bill in the state assembly, he said that his government, after due deliberations, had decided to do this. Officials said there were many instances where cases had been slapped for political and other considerations to victimize political opponents and law had been misused in a big way in the past.
CM Adityanath also sought the support of the opposition parties, bitterly opposed to the legislation, to come join hands with the state government to weed out criminals and make Uttar Pradesh a peaceful and investor-friendly state.
UP government gives order to scrap case against Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath:
A firm hand towards crime and criminals was necessary, he added while pointing out that his government had been mandated by the people to turn UP into a peaceful state.
He had also allayed fears of opposition benches and the media that the law would be misused to muzzle their voice or to hound minorities or political opponents. “It is must to break the backbone of organized crime, which has thrived with the support of politicians and officials”, the Chief Minister said.
The case was particularly lodged at Pipiganj police station in Gorakhpur district, was pending in a local court which had earlier directed that non-bailable warrants (NBWs) be issued against the accused for non-appearance before it.
Prosecution Officer, Gorakhpur, B D Mishra, said: “The court had ordered NBWs against all named but the warrants were not issued then.”
On December 20, the state government had sent a letter to the District Magistrate, Gorakhpur, directing that an application be filed to withdraw the case before the court.
The government order stated that based on a letter received from the District Magistrate on October 27 and after scrutinising facts of the case, it had been decided to withdraw the case. The letter mentioned the names of Yogi Adityanath, Shiv Pratap Shukla, Sheetal Pandey and ten others.
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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