Kochi: Opposition leader in the Kerala
Assembly, Oommen Chandy, today said the state cannot be
declared as a lottery free zone as it would create serious
social problems.
Banning all lotteries in the state would not be
practicable as it would create serious social problems, chandy
told reporters here.
Most of the people engaged in selling lottery tickets in
the state were from the lower strata of the society and they
could not do any other work to eke out their livelihood, he
said.
(The Kerala high court had yesterday asked the state to look
into the aspect of declaring kerala as lottery free zone).
Chandy urged chief minister, V S Achuthanandan, to examine
whether there was any lapse on the part of finance ministry in
handling the lottery case.
The chief minister should seek legal advice in the light
of yesterday`s kerala high court`s order directing the
state to collect tax from Megha distributors, promoters of
Bhutan lotteries and two others.
Chandy stressed the need for a CBI investigation into
the lottery issue.
He said Achuthanandan in his letter to the centre seeking
CBI investigation had stated that the exchequer had lost over
Rs 80,000 crore following manipulations in the lottery dealing
for the past four years.
PTI
