Feature
Contempt suit against Sri Sri for ‘disrespect’ to NGT
New Delhi:With his Art of Living Foundation (AoL) yet to pay the major chunk of “environment compensation” for its cultural fest on the Yamuna floodplains, spiritual guru Sri Sri Ravi Shankar was on Thursday slapped with a contempt suit for “alleged disrespect shown by him to the orders of National Green Tribunal (NGT)”.
The matter will come up for hearing before the Principal Bench of NGT headed by Justice Swatanter Kumar on May 10.
Advocate Sanjay Parikh moved the application on behalf of environmentalist Manoj Misra in the NGT on Thursday. Misra had filed cases in the NGT against AoL for violating environment laws.
Parikh in his application said, “It is being filed to draw the attention of the Tribunal to the gross disrespect shown in the public domain by Sri Sri Ravi Shankar – Chairman of Art of Living (AoL) Foundation, by casting aspersions on the Tribunal and the dispensation of justice done by it under the Rule of Law.”
He added that statements issued by Sri Sri “tends to interfere with the administration of justice and lowers the authority of this Tribunal”.
Referring to some media reports, Parikh suggested that AoL has delayed the deposition of Rs.4.75 crore of “remaining environment compensation” imposed by the NGT despite the fact that “the founder of AoL heads over Rs.234 crore worth of assets, with over Rs.81 crore in latest revenues from the United States, United Kingdom and the Netherlands alone”.
The NGT had imposed an environment compensation of Rs.5 crore on the AoL for the destruction its event, World Culture Festival (WCF), had caused to the ecology at the fragile Yamuna floodplains.
The AoL cited its inability to pay the huge amount being a charitable organisation and deposited only Rs.25 Lakh on March 11, the day the WCF was to kick off.
It had pleaded to the tribunal for more time to deposit the remaining environment compensation.
Responding to its plea, the NGT had extended the deadline further to three weeks, which too lapsed on April 1 while AoL is yet to pay the balance amount.
On the other side, Akshama Nath, counsel for AoL, told IANS: “The foundation will respond to the suit in the court if at all it gets accepted.”
She maintained that when AoL had returned the land to the Delhi Development Authority, it was cleaner and greener in comparison to what the foundation had received when it held the event.
Chief spokesperson of the AoL Sonia Madhok in a statement to IANS said: “We would like to state at the outset that this is absolutely untrue.”
She surprisingly maintained “Art of Living has never claimed that it does not have Rs.5 crore”.
“We were unable to furnish the full sum on the very day (March 11) and sought some time from the court to pay the remaining amount. Subsequently, the Art of Living, following due process of law, asked for a change in modality of payment,” she said.
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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