Case Law Details
Teesta Distributors & Ors. Vs Union of India & Ors. (Calcutta High Court)
The following issues have arisen for consideration:-
i) Is lottery a ‘goods’ or an ‘actionable claim’?
It has held that, a lottery is in essential a chance for a prize, the sale of a lottery ticket can only be a sale of that chance. It has held that, there was no distinction between the two rights. The right to participate being an inseparable part of the chance to win, is therefore part of an ‘actionable claim’. It goes on to hold that, the sale of a lottery ticket does not necessarily involve the sale of goods. It is nothing other than a contract of carriage. The actual ticket is merely evidence of the right to transfer. A contract is not a property but only a promise supported by consideration, upon breach of which either a claim for specific performance or damages would lie. Like railway tickets, a ticket to see a cinema or a pawnbroker’s ticket are memoranda or contracts between the vendors of the ticket and the purchasers. Tickets are themselves normally evidence of and in some cases the contract between the buyer of the ticket and its seller. Therefore, a lottery ticket can be held to be goods if at all only because it evidences the transfer of a right. It has examined the question as to what right a lottery ticket represents. It has held that, on purchasing a lottery ticket, the purchaser would have a claim to a conditional interest in the prize money which is not in the purchaser’s possession. The right would fall squarely within the definition of ‘actionable claim’ and, would therefore be excluded from the definition of goods under the Sale of Goods Act and the sales tax statute. It has held that, lotteries being actionable claims are generally speaking “goods” or moveable property.
On the strength of Sunrise Associates (supra) therefore, the first issue has to be answered by holding that, a lottery is an ‘actionable claim’ and goods or moveable property. The first issue is answered accordingly.
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