The Kerala government will move the Centre seeking a ban on the sale of Mizoram lotteries in the state.
On Saturday, the Kerala police had initiated raids at various places, where lotteries are kept in stock.
The state Finance Minister Thomas Isaac told media on Sunday that Mizoram government had violated rules regarding the sale of lotteries.
He also alleged that Mizoram has not followed the central law regarding this.
“A letter received by the Chief Secretary on Saturday merely mentioned the list of distributors. The marketing arrangements and details of the printing, distribution and sale of lotteries were not revealed. The Mizoram government will be informed that this is unacceptable. Stocking tickets before completing these formalities constitutes a violation of the law and is hence illegal,” minister said, reports The Hindu.
He also informed that police started the shutdown of Mizoram lottery centres in the state and one such centre in Palakkad has been sealed.
The Minister said that an audit conducted by Comptroller and Auditor General had revealed many irregularities in the state lottery sale.
He pointed out that there were flaws in revenue sharing mechanism, agreement with the distributors, in design and draw of tickets.
Kerala also rejected the letter sent by Mizoram government on the sale of its lotteries in the state.
Thomas Isaac said in the press meet that there was not enough information in the letter and it only mentioned about distribution arrangements while there was no information regarding sales, printing etc.
“Mizoram is also obliged to provide other details as requested by the state. Agents brought crores of tickets to the state without completing the formalities. This is illegal and the police have arrested some persons in Palakkad for possessing the tickets,” the Minister said, as reported by Nagaland Post.
The report also says that the letter to Chief Secretary included a copy of the agreement between Mizoram Government and Teesta Distributors on the basis of ‘minimum guaranteed revenue.’
This is against the Lotteries Regulation Act and the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) had earlier criticised the Mizoram Lotteries Department for entering into such an agreement.