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Kerala High Court set aside the permission of selling Nagaland lottery in the state

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A High Court division bench  put away a single judge order permitting the sale of the Nagaland lottery in Kerala.

The bench includes judges Bechu Kurian Thomas and S V Bhatti accoutered the order on the state government’s appeal. The bench observed that Kerala is authorised to make rules to observe the performance of lotteries of Nagaland within the territory of Kerala government. 

“We are of the view that the except for rule 4(4) of the Amended Rules and to the extent indicated above, all the other rules enacted in 2018 by the State of Kerala are valid and do not contravene any provision of either the Constitution or the parent Act.”

However, the Court held Rule 4(4) ultra vires, in so far as it pertained to lotteries organised by other states. The said Rule empowers the Secretary to Government, Taxes Department or any authority as constituted under Rule 4(4) to conduct all lotteries organised by other States.

The single judge had passed the judgement after declaring ultra vires (beyond one’s legal power or authority) the amendments brought to the Kerala Paper Lotteries (Regulation) Rules in 2018 which regulated marketing and sale of lotteries organised by other states in Kerala.

The division bench made it clear that the Kerala Paper Lotteries (Regulation) Amendment Rules, 2018, were valid and within the legislative competence of the state government. The petition petition before the single judge was also filed by a lottery vendor who was selling Nagaland lottery in Kerala.

“No state can exercise its authority by making Rules in such a way to impact upon authority of other States to organise, conduct and promotion of lottery.That power is exclusively given to the Central Government under Section 6(of Lotteries Regulation Act). The Central Government alone has the power to  regulate, control and interfere with lotteries, if it is run in violation of law”, a Single Judge Bench of Justice A Muhamed Mustaque had ruled then.

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