"A Matter of Chance" continues....

To understand the malpractices in this trade, I decided to probe the matter in great depth with my team and studied every modus operandi adopted by lottery operators and catalogued them. But before I go into the outcome of this investigation, let us understand the legal aspect of the situation.

In its legal and popular sense, ‘lottery’ means distribution of prizes by lots or chance. It is the purchase of this chance that is the essence of a lottery. The distinction between lottery and gambling is subtle as both are games of chance. But gambling is a game played by and in the presence of all participants while in the case of a lottery, the presence of participants is both unnecessary and superfluous. In gambling, there may be a display of some skill, as in rolling a dice or the like. In a lottery, the participants merely buy chance, the happening of which is beyond their control. The mischief of gambling affects only the actual players whereas in a lottery it is widespread. The US Supreme Court observed:

"Experience has shown that the common forms of gambling are comparatively innocuous when placed in contrast with the widespread pestilence of lotteries. The former are confined to a few persons and places, but the latter infests the whole community. It enters every class, it preys upon the hard earnings of the poor, and plunders the ignorant and the simple. "

The law reprobates gambling as well as the lottery because both promote the circulation of money that is the fruit of labour by chance, a practice that is both unjust and unequal. Furthermore, gambling and lottery encourage the squandering of hard-earned money, which leads to incalculable misery. They are, moreover, in opposition to honest labour and thrift, upon which the happiness of society depends.

An English court called ‘keepers of lotteries as a class of rogues and vagabonds’, and they are, in fact, so. Lotteries are mostly intended to inveigle people into purchasing worthless things or parting with their money with no return, to the advantage of the lottery keeper.

To be continued....