SC allows mini casinos to operate; govt officials surprised
KATHMANDU, June 8: The Supreme Court has issued an interim order to the government not to close down mini-casinos. Mini-casinos (or electronic gambling) operated by four-star and three-star hotels have been closed since the government brought into force new casino regulations in July 2013. The regulations strictly ban three-star hotels from operating mini-casinos.
Now a joint bench of Justices Ram Prasad Sah and Jagadish Sharma Poudel has ordered the government not to close the mini-casinos, citing renewal of their operating lisences.
A case was filed by Central Media Pvt. Ltd. against the decision of the cabinet on 18 April 2014 to close the casinos. Central Media operated by Naresh Shah Kalwar, who is also a lawmaker in the constituent assembly from the Terai-Madhes Sadbhabana Party, is currently operating three casinos in Jhapa, Mahendranagar and Biratnagar. “Central Media has started to operate three casinos following the Supreme Court interim order,” said Amba Dutta Bhatta, executive director of Casino Association of Nepal.
Officials at the Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation (MoCTCA) have expressed surprise at the supreme court order. Central Media has not been filing its tax returns since three years and the cabinet meeting of April 18 decided to shut down all casinos not paying their taxes.
In February 2013, when the government was preparing the new casino regulations for shutting down all mini-casinos, the Supreme Court had ordered the government to renew the licenses of mini-casinos. There are still half a dozen mini-casinos in Nepalgunj, Bhairahawa, Janakpur, Birgunj, Biratnager, Mahendranagar and other border towns.
Under the new casino regulations enforced in July 2013, gambling is allowed only in five-star hotels, deluxe resorts of that standard and four-star hotels. The regulations also set the standards for casinos operated in five-star and four-star hotels.
The regulations provisioned a paid-up capital of Rs 250 million for operation a casino at five-star hotels and for gambling with the use of modern equipment at four-star hotels. License fees and renewal fees of 20 million and Rs 10 million respectively were also imposed.
Casinos were likewise required to submit a bank guarantee to MoCTCA equal to the royalty for one year. Under the regulations, three-star hotels are not able to operate casinos.
Mini-casinos were issued their licenses through a minister-level decision when Hisila Yami was minister for tourism. The issue caused controversy when her successor Sharat Singh Bhandari awarded more licenses for mini-casinos.
While the casino regulations banned the operation of casinos in three-star hotels, casinos operated in five-star and four-star hotels also closed after failing to obtain new operating licenses as they did not pay royalty dues before the deadline of 15 April.
Casino Royale applies for new license
Casino Royale, one of the 10 casinos which have closed down, has now applied to the Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation (MoCTCA) for an operating license as per the new casino regulations. Casino Royale has outstanding revenue dues of Rs 49.5 million.
“The ministry has asked for a tax clearance certificate for up to 2012/13,” Madhu Sudan Burlakoti, joint secretary of the Tourism Industry Division under MoCTCA told Republica. Casino Royle must also submit a document from Nepal Rastra Bank showing that the company has not been blacklisted in the past, according to Burlakoti.
(Source: REPUBLICA)
