Maharashtra cabinet minister Aaditya Thackeray has clarified the Maha Vikas Aghadi’s position on running casinos in the state. In a chat with Indian Express Group’s Executive Director Anant Goenka, Thackeray said there was no talk within the government of taking the matter forward at least for now.
As Cabinet Minister of Tourism and Environment, Thackeray said the government’s primary objective was to open up with regards to Covid-related restrictions and not implement any big-ticket projects. He also added that conversation around a subject like casino in the state needs wider consultation of all stakeholders, including addressing socio-cultural concerns.
With governments across the country on shaky grounds in the aftermath Covid-19, revenue generation avenues are being looked at by parties in power more than ever before. Casinos and gaming is a lucrative medium of revenue generations, with some Indian states like Goa and Sikkim already benefitting from it.
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The discussion around casinos in Maharashtra isn’t a new one. In fact, the issue was brought to the centerstage of daily discourse in 2015 when the Bombay High Court, in March 2015, directed the BJP-Shiv Sena government to respond to a public interest litigation (PIL) demanding a decades-old law be implemented, permitting casinos to operate in the state.
Maharashtra Casinos (Control and Tax) Act, yet to be notified, was passed by the Legislative Assembly in 1976. However, it has not been notified yet, said the petitioner Jay Sayta, a law student at the time and now a leading technology lawyer. On filing an RTI, Sayta had also learnt that the Act received the Governor’s assent on 22 July 1976.
The division bench headed by Chief Justice Mohit Shah had asked the Devendra Fadnavis’ government to file a response within 4 weeks. Earlier in December 2014, Sayta wrote to the Chief Minister asking him to notify the Act, but failed to get a reply.
In October 2015, a Bombay High Court Bench of Justices V M Kanade and Shalini Phansalkar-Joshi told the state government to take a call on whether or not to allow casinos in state within six months.