Legalising betting in sports worse idea: Congress
New Delhi, July 6: Dubbing betting in sports a worse idea, the Congress on Friday said the Law Commission's recommendation for such a step will turn every shop selling betel leaves into a gambling den.
"Gambling is a bad idea; gambling in sports is a worse idea. And between a bad and a worse idea, I don't think any choice can be made," Congress Spokesperson Manish Tewari told reporters here.
"If you legalise betting in sports, you will not only spoil the sports but also turn every 'paan ki dukaan' into a 'juye ka adda'. Does the Modi government want to turn every paan shop in the country into a den for gambling?" he asked.
Tewari's comments a day after the Law Commission in its report recommended that betting in sports, including cricket, should be legalised.
The Commission also recommended that Parliament may also enact a model law for regulating gambling that may be adopted by the states or in the alternative, Parliament may legislate in exercise of its powers under Articles 249 or 252 of the Constitution.
The panel said that gambling/betting be made taxable and could be used to attract foreign direct investment.
"If betting were such a kosher and exalted social activity which could qualify as a virtue, then a substantive number of Indian states would not have banned it," Tewari, a former Union Minister said.
He said that the fact is that betting, whether it is through lottery or other means, had had certain very very negative impacts on Indian society.
"It has impoverished families, it has ruined them, and brought about destitution. There is enough empirical evidence which bears out this reality. We believe that betting will subvert Indian sports, it will create more problems of the kind that we have seen with regard to match-fixing etc," the Congress leader said.
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Another North Goa nightclub sealed; Kejriwal says corruption led to fire tragedy
Panaji (PTI): As part of a crackdown against tourist establishments violating laws and safety norms in the aftermath of the Arpora fire tragedy, Goa authorities on Saturday sealed a renowned club at Vagator and revoked the fire department NOC of another club.
Cafe CO2 Goa, located on a cliff overlooking the Arabian Sea at Vagator beach in North Goa, was sealed. The move came two days after Goya Club, also in Vagator, was shut down for alleged violations of rules.
Elsewhere, campaigning for local body polls, AAP leader Arvind Kejriwal said the fire incident at Birch by Romeo Lane nightclub at Arpora, which claimed 25 lives on December 6, happened because the BJP government in the state was corrupt.
An inspection of Cafe CO2 Goa by a state government-appointed team revealed that the establishment, with a seating capacity of 250, did not possess a no-objection certificate (NOC) of the Fire and Emergency Services Department. The club, which sits atop Ozrant Cliff, also did not have structural stability, the team found.
The Fire and Emergency Services on Saturday also revoked the NOC issued to Diaz Pool Club and Bar at Anjuna as the fire extinguishers installed in the establishment were found to be inadequate, said divisional fire officer Shripad Gawas.
A notice was issued to Nitin Wadhwa, the partner of the club, he said in the order.
Campaigning at Chimbel village near Panaji in support of his party's Zilla Panchayat election candidate, Aam Aadmi Party leader Kejriwal said the nightclub fire at Arpora happened because of the "corruption of the Pramod Sawant-led state government."
"Why this fire incident happened? I read in the newspapers that the nightclub had no occupancy certificate, no building licence, no excise licence, no construction licence or trade licence. The entire club was illegal but still it was going on," he said.
"How could it go on? Couldn't Pramod Sawant or anyone else see it? I was told that hafta (bribe) was being paid," the former Delhi chief minister said.
A person can not work without bribing officials in the coastal state, Kejriwal said, alleging that officers, MLAs and even ministers are accepting bribes.
