" A Matter of Chance " continues .....

Since a lot of data emerged during our investigations, I decided to collate them in the form of a monograph that bore the same title as the present chapter. Besides a detailed note on the various modus operandi adopted by the lottery operators, it had copies of all relevant government orders, a list of lottery operators, the number of draws held by them, the prizes disbursed, etc.

The monograph was in high demand by various state police forces, lottery department officials and police stations in Delhi. Besides circulating it to these recipients, I sent a copy of the monograph to the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), which dealt with the subject in the Government of India.

Following the action taken by the Delhi Police, several lottery vendors wound up their operations and closed shop. In some states such as Bihar, Haryana and Madhya Pradesh, the state governments banned lotteries. Lottery operators across India came together and decided to approach the Supreme Court regarding the action being taken by the state and the Central governments as well as the police cases against them.

The best lawyers of the country represented them. During the proceedings, after hearing the arguments of both sides, the court asked the government counsel if any systematic study had been conducted by the government into the frauds committed by lottery operators. In the absence of any other report, MHA submitted the monograph prepared by us.

Copies were supplied to the advocates of the lottery operators as well. After protracted hearings, the court adjourned for
final orders to a date a fortnight later, when it would decide the fate of lottery operators in India.

We waited with bated breath for the hearing, eager to know what the court had to say about our findings on this mammoth fraud, which had illegally lined the pockets of a few unscrupulous lottery vendors, devastated the lives of thousands of innocent lottery ticket buyers and defrauded the government of billions of rupees by tax evasion and tax fraud.

To be continued ......