Feature
CBI raids: Delhi HC issues notice to Delhi government on agency’s petition
New Delhi: The Delhi High Court today issued notice to the state government on a petition by the CBI opposing a trial court verdict for directing the investigating agency to release documents seized during the searches at the office of Rajendra Kumar, principal secretary to Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal.
Justice P.S. Teji also sought response from Rajendra Kumar on the CBI plea seeking quashing of the trial court’s Wednesday order.
The high court, however, refrained from passing any interim order on the agency’s plea after counsel Dayan Krishnan, appearing for the Delhi government, opposed the plea saying it has not been heard.
The court posted the matter for January 25.
The CBI in its plea filed through CBI’s standing counsel Sonia Mathur said the special court failed to appreciate that the Delhi government has already obtained attested photocopies of the documents seized and thus the order of returning the documents is “wholly misconceived”.
“The seized documents in question are crucial and vital as evidence to prove and establish beyond all shades of doubt, the unholy nexus between the accused persons and throw light on the allegation of criminal conspiracy and criminal misconduct,” said the plea.
“Many relevant witnesses are yet to be examined in light of the documents in question.”
The special CBI court order has “given undue advantage to the Delhi government” the plea stated.
“Any disclosure of evidence collected so far to any person, whether accused or a non-party, the Delhi government in the instant case, would have prejudiced the larger interest of the justice and fair investigation,” CBI contended.
CBI officials raided the Delhi Secretariat on December 2015, alleging they were investigating corruption charges against Rajendra Kumar.
Kejriwal claimed his office was too raided, and linked it to a probe he had ordered against union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on issues related to alleged corruption in Delhi’s cricket association. The CBI denied searching Kejriwal’s office.
The first information report suggests that Rajendra Kumar along with other public servants provided favours to private firms.
According to the FIR, Rajendra Kumar promoted a company, Endeavour System Pvt. Ltd. from 2007, by allegedly misusing his official positions and facilitated tenders worth Rs.9.5 crore to the said company.
In an application filed last month, the Aam Aadmi Party government sought the release of the documents seized “indiscriminately” by the CBI.
The plea, filed through the government’s standing counsel Rahul Mehra in trial court, had also sought “stringent action against officials responsible for raiding in a malafide manner the Delhi government office and seizing documents to cause immense dislocation of work”.
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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