**Bhubaneswar:** In a bid to attract foreign investment, the Law Commission on Thursday recommended Centre to legalise regulated gambling and betting on sports in India.
In a report submitted to the Government, Commission has suggested that such step will curb match fixing and incidents of cheating as it is impossible to prevent these activities and it should be made taxable under the direct and indirect tax regimes and could be used to attract foreign direct investment or FDI.
The commission has further opined that linking Aadhaar or PAN cards of an individual indulging in betting and gambling is mandatory. It also recommends making the transaction cashless to regulate illegal activities like money laundering.
The report of the Law Commission has been titled ‘Legal Framework: Gambling and Sports Betting including Cricket in India’.
The commission has also suggested amending the laws regulating forex and India’s FDI policy to allow investments in the casino and online gaming industry.
Interestingly, the Law Commission in its report said that the battle of Mahabharat would not have taken place if gambling was legalised in that era, pointing out that Yudhistir could not have put his brothers and wife as stakes then.