Law commission recommends legalisation of gambling in sports

In a surprising report presented to the Indian government by the law commission, it recommends the legalisation of gambling in sports. To justify its argument, it cites the strong presence of ‘illegal gambling’ in the country. In order to preset the sector as a very lucrative sector for India, it clearly describes how the country’s economy can extract money from the sector with the help of Income Tax and GST laws once the sector of gambling is shifted from ‘illegal market’ to ‘legal market’.

The crucial observations supporting the legalisation of the sector has been made by the commission headed by former Supreme Court judge B S Chauhan.

It has not been a consensus decision of the commission. Notably, Prof. S. Sivakumar, one of the members of the commission which has verified whether the gambling in cricket can be legalised or not, has strongly denounced the recommendation, and presented a separate note to the central government, saying that no one would get benefit from the recommendation other than those with vested interest. He has also added that the dangerous game of gambling should not be allowed in a poor country like India where a considerable number of people are still living under poverty.

Anyway, there are clear recommendations in the report to protest the vulnerable people, such as poor, those living with the support of the government’s social welfare schemes and minors, from this sector. The report also notes that the money generated through taxation of this sector can be channelized to run more social welfare schemes.      

Vignesh. S. G

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