India must legalise gambling, says former chief justice
Committee appointed to report on corruption in cricket says regulating gambling would help detect instances of match-fixing
An Indian committee comprised of a former chief justice and two Supreme Court judges has recommended that the country’s federal government legalises all forms of sports betting.
The panel, which was tasked with looking at ways in which the Board of Control for Cricket in India could tackle corruption, delivered a report yesterday which claimed a fully-regulated sports betting framework could assist with the detection of suspicious betting activity.
Led by former chief justice R.M. Lodha, the three-man committee said a regulated betting framework would not only generate much needed tax revenues but also bring greater transparency to cricket.
However the report said regulation must prohibit players, coaches and others closely associated with sport from participating in gambling with those found in breach to be punishable by law.
“While it is our recommendation that the legislatures ought to legalise betting in cricket, these must be with safeguards,” the report noted.
Speaking to eGaming Review, India Bet managing director George Oborne said the report reflected a change in attitude towards gambling in India but cautioned the recommendations were unlikely to be adopted any time soon.
“I think the federal government will likely leave it alone as it is still a contentious issue,” Oborne said.
“The response of states may vary as some are more politically progressive than others – a state such as Gujarat, for instance, is going to be far more conservative in its approach to this than one such as Goa.
“However, I do think it opens a wider discussion and it gives a platform to journalists and lobbyists not just to legitimately put these questions to politicians but also to demand a response,” he added.
The legality of gambling in India is currently decided on a state-by-state basis with just two states allowing for the activity outside of the more widely accepted lotteries.
The debate of the legalisation of gambling has moved up the agenda in recent years following the 2013 Indian Premier League match/spot-fixing scandal.
Last year the state of Sikkim was told its licensees must not give customers from other states access to their products.