‘Kelantan has legal right to ban sale of lottery tickets'

By Syed Azhar, The Star

KOTA BARU: Kelantan will maintain the ban on the sale of Big Sweep lottery tickets as the state legal adviser had looked at the law and advised the state government that it was acting within its legal rights.

State Local Government, Culture, Arts and Tourism committee chairman Datuk Takiyuddin Hassan said Monday that the legal adviser Datuk Azlan Abdul Halimhad intrepreted the law as directed by Mentri Besar Datuk Nik Abdul Aziz Nik Mat.

"He is of opinion that the state goverment's move to ban the sale of the tickets is within the legal rights of the State.

"He concurred with the State government's stand that it is illegal to sell the lottery even beyond business premises licensed by local governments,” he told reporters after attending the fortnightly state executive council meeting here chaired by Nik Abdul Aziz at Kota Darul Naim here on Monday.

On March 16, Nik Abdul Aziz said he had ordered the state legal adviser to intrepret laws concerning the sale of lottery tickets in the state.

He made the order to appease coalition partners, especially DAP, who wanted an explanation from the Kelantan government who banned the sale of the tickets last month.

MCA president Datuk Seri Dr Chua Soi Lek had criticised the Kelantan government for infringing the rights of the Chinese to buy lottery tickets after two bookshop owners were slapped with compounds for selling the tickets to public on Feb 26.

Nik Abdul Aziz had said he would meet Dr Chua on April 3 to provide an explanation for the ban.