Summary:
PANAJI: Citing the 276th Law Commission report on gambling and betting, Congress on Thursday said there was no constitutional support for offshore casinos to continue operations in the state since the government never got the President's approval for the amendment to the Goa, Daman and Diu Public Gambling Act in 1992. Chodankar was speaking after accepting former Goa Forward Party vice-president Trajano D'Mello back into Congress. It was only later, following the enactment of the Amendment Act of 1992, that provisions were made for permitting licensed casinos to operate. "BJP has been covering up this report because it does not want to implement the recommendations," Goa Congress president Girish Chodankar, said.The Goa, Daman and Diu Public Gambling Act, 1976 was accorded assent by the President but at the time of enactment, it did not permit casinos and games of chance to operate in Goa, Daman and Diu. Chodankar demanded that the state implement the commission's recommendation for linking of PAN and Aadhaar cards with the bets placed, along with an upper limit on the amount being gambled..