Govt asked to pay lottery prize amount to Mumbai resident

Kerala High court today directed the state government to pay the Kerala State Lottery prize of Rs 5 lakh to a man hailing from Mumbai, which he had won in a draw in 2011.
Saroj Subash Nagori of Andheri in Mumbai had won the second prize in the draw held on November 7, 2011. However, the prize was withheld by the state maintaining that the person was residing outside the state and that he could not produce travel documents to substantiate his presence in Kerala during the relevant point of time.
The petitioner approached the Monitoring Committee, which also rejected his claim on April 4 last year following which he approached the High Court.

Justice A M Shaffique, before whom the petition came up, quashed the Monitoring Committee's order and said as per the scheme of lottery prize amount has to be paid to the holder of the prize lottery. Retaining such amounts by lottery department was unlawful, the court held.