Lottery winner gets justice in Kerala High Court

Man denied prize money of Rs 40 lakh and 50 Gold sovereigns. Kerala High Court intervenes and brings justice.

A Sabarimala pilgrim from Tamil Nadu knocked the doors of the Kerala High Court when he was unable to retrieve his prize money of Rs 40 lakh and 50 gold sovereigns from Muvattupuzha. He had won the Winwin lottery in the year 2011, but the money was not sanctioned by the government officials until 4 years. They also delayed the handing of the sovereigns. 

Following a complaint with the court, the Kerala High Court directed the state government to immediately hand over the 50 sovereigns promised to Radhakrishnan or the value of the same. The court said, "A finality shall be attained, within a period of two months, failing which, the responsible officer will have to pay 10 per cent interest from the date on which petitioner has won the lottery."

The directorate of lotteries was also reluctant to pay the amount, saying that the winner was from outside Kerala and he could have forged the ticket. A probe into the matter has also been directed. However, despite that the court had directed the state government to pay the amount and hand over the sovereigns to him in 2015.

Following this,  Rs 24,50,000 was handed over to him. However, the gold sovereigns were not yet given to Radhakrishnan as the lotteries department said that the gold fund has yet not been sanctioned and that the money will be given over to the winner as soon as the money is received from the government.