TaxTMI 
TaxTMI 
1999 (7) TMI 713
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....d trial Judge, promise to pay prize in a lottery is in the nature of an agreement by way of wager which is void and cannot be enforced by civil suit due to prohibition contained in Section 30 of the Contract Act. The learned trial Judge has placed reliance on a decision of Division Bench of this Court in the case of Shekhar Chand Jain v. Ramnarayan Gend (F.A. No. 10 of 1975 decided on 3-2-1977 and shortnoted in 1977 (2) M.P. W.N. 118). The Division Bench in the said case upheld dismissal of a similar suit based on a lottery ticket by relying on a decision of Bombay High Court in the case of Sir Dorabji Jamsetji Tata Ltd. v. Edward F. Lance : (AIR 1917 Bom 138) : (1918) ILR Bom 676. Learned counsel Shri G.C. Bhatia, appearing for the plaint....
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.... "in the nature of wager" and, therefore, a person who wins a lottery cannot sue for recovery of the prize money. Learned counsel for the appellant submits that the Division Bench in the case of Shekharchand (supra) relied on an old decision of the High Court of Bombay of the year 1917. It is submitted that now the lotteries are organised by the State and private parties with permission of the State under State and Central enactment and refusal to decree such suits for recovery of prize money on a lottery ticket was not justified in law. Reference is made to M.P. Lottery (Niyantran Tatha Kar) Adhiniyam, 1973. We have looked into the provisions of the above Adhiniyam of 1973 in which we find that the lottery has been defined in Se....
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.... held that even the State sponsored lotteries have the same element of chance with no skill involved in it. It is observed that the measures provided in the State and Central legislations are only to inculcate faith to the participants of the State Lotteries that it is being conducted fairly with no possibility of fraud, misappropriation or deceit and assure the hopeful recipients of high prizes that all is fair and safe. The Supreme Court, however, refused to recognise it as a trade or profession and observed: The lotteries authorised by the State also has a sanction in law. As we have said, a gambling may be taxed and may be authorised for a specified purpose, but it would not attain the status of trade like other trades or becomes res ....