Lucrative lottery sales halted in Indian state
Afp, Bangalore
Thousands of lottery ticket vendors in a southern Indian state were forced to down shutters Wednesday after a court upheld a ban on the trade, which rakes in 3.5 billion dollars in annual sales. A provincial high court judge Tuesday dismissed petitions brought by lottery organisers and an association of lottery dealers questioning the March 27 ban, which they argued infringed upon their right to trade in Karnataka state. "Lottery is a game of chance involving no skills and hence it is gambling," the New Indian Express cited the court order as saying, ruling that the lottery trade could not be considered to be legitimate commerce. The ruling annulled a previous order by the same court which temporarily blocked the ban, and put an immediate halt to lottery sales across the state of 55 million people.
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