In the absence of proper evidence, two accused in two separate gambling cases were declared not guilty by two different courts in Goa under Section 11(2) a of the Goa, Daman & Diu Public Gambling Act 1976.

In the first case a 37-year-old was caught with Rs 530 while indulging gambling activities by means of betting on digits of numerical figures. “In order to prove gambling there has to be an acceptor and bettor. In the present case, the prosecution has chargesheeted only the accused and the better is missing,” a report in the Times of India said quoting the court’s order.

“Thus, there is absolutely no iota of evidence to show that the accused was accepting matka bets and that the articles attached under the panchanama are the articles used for gambling,” stated JMFC Sattari at Valpoi, Girija Govind Gaonkar.

In the second case, a 25-year-old accused was caught with Rs 4495, accepting bets in the form of numerical figures. But the accused has been acquitted because of the absence of a bettor. As per the court, a gambling activity is only possible when one places the bet and another accepts it.

“In the present case, not a single person offering the bets has been arrested or charged by the police. There should be somebody to offer the bets before the other, who accepts them. In the absence of any person who offered the bets, it is difficult to accept that the accused accepted the best,” JMFC Panaji, Sabino A Braganza ruled.

To the prosecution’s argument that the accused was accepting bets in a public place, the court stated that “the non-examination of any independent witness is fatal to the prosecution’s case”.

“Even assuming that the case and the articles were seized from the accused it cannot be directly concluded that the accused was gambling in the public place. There is no evidence that the cash was derived from gambling activity,” the court held.