Feature
Meeting foreigner can’t result in dismissal from armed forces: SC
New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Tuesday said an armed forces officer sending explicit messages to the wife of a brother officer and also meeting the foreigner wife of one of his friends were not grounds for dismissal from service.
“Inviting her (foreign national) for breakfast with her husband, would it be misconduct? Merely because he did not report the meeting (over breakfast), could it be a case of dismissal,” asked the bench of Chief Justice H.L. Dattu, Justice Sudhansu Jyoti Mukhopadhaya and Justice Arun Mishra.
Dismissing the plea by the central government against naval officer N. Kalyan Kumar whose reinstatement in service was ordered by the Armed Forces Tribunal on June 25, 2014, the apex court noted that neither the brother officer nor his wife ever complained about the explicit messages sent to her by Kumar.
Kumar was commander when he was sacked from the navy on May 7, 2013.
While discharging him from service, the government said it had sufficient material that he indulged in a promiscuous and extra-marital relationship that was unbecoming of an officer and maintained unauthorised contact with foreign nationals.
“Exchange of explicit photos, email massages is between two individuals. If the lady had complained, we can understand. Nor anyone else has complained. How such conduct would affects internal security,” Chief Justice Dattu asked, brushing aside the contentions by Attorney General Mukul Rohatgi.
Rohatgi told the court that “there was no compliant from the husband about explicit messages being sent to his wife (by Kumar). They came to know about it from intelligence sources”.
He said that in the “armed forces highest standards of morality have to be maintained”.
The court then further asked: “Mixing with foreign national, will it amount to serious misconduct affecting national interest? One can understand if your charge says that he was passing sensitive material to that lady. That is not your allegation. Then how could it be detrimental to national security?
“Can you say that though she was married to an Indian, don’t bring your wife (for breakfast) because she is a foreign national? Though she is a foreign national, she continues to be a part of the Indian system (being a wife of an Indian). Maybe she has a white skin,” the court observed, while declining the government’s plea against the AFT order of reinstatement of Kalyan Kumar.
“Merely because she ate dosa in his house (over breakfast), can you dismiss him from service? Being a high-ranking officer meeting a foreign national is not a taboo,” the court said.
“In a society where we respect freedom, can we say that he should not meet a lady with foreign nationality? Is it such a big sin that you throw him out of service,” the court said, dismissing the Centre’s plea and saying that the AFT was justified in its order directing reinstatement of Kumar.
The foreign national is the wife of a co-instructor of a yoga class run by Kalyan Kumar’s wife.
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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