Court Dismisses Petition Challenging Ban on Entry of Goans in Casinos

A division bench of Bombay High Court at Goa has dismissed a petition that challenged a ban on locals playing in the Goan casinos.

The petition was brought by 25-year-old student Shur Usgaonkar, who claimed that the ban on non-tourists violates a law that prohibits any state from making a law that infringe on human rights, according to local media reports. However, the court backed the government ban.

“Gambling is totally prohibited, but by way of some exceptions a certain class of places and people are exempted from such prohibition. The object of the state is naturally to prevent the person domiciled in Goa to be lured into such chance games and to suffer poverty and mental trauma for their families,” the ruling states.

“The classification is founded with the object of preventing the spread of gambling and transforming the exception into a rule.”