Kerala High Court Dismisses Retired Police Officer's Claim to 2025 Christmas Bumper Lottery Prize
The Kerala High Court has dismissed a petition filed by Sajimon K K, a retired civil police officer from Piravom, who claimed that the first prize in the 2025 Christmas Bumper Lottery was won by a ticket he purchased and was allegedly stolen by staff of a courier service. The bench of Justice Bechu Kurian Thomas rejected the plea after examining the original prize-winning lottery ticket, which was produced by the director of state lotteries in a sealed cover.
Court Finds No Evidence of Tampering on Lottery Ticket
Upon perusing the ticket, the High Court found that there was no interpolation, line delineation, or overwriting present. The court noted that the prize-winning ticket contained only the name and address of the person who had originally claimed the prize, contrary to Sajimon's assertion that he had written his own name and address on it.
The state lotteries department submitted that, based on the petitioner's complaint, it had specifically verified the lottery ticket submitted for claiming the first prize to identify any form of fabrication. However, no such fabrication was detected. The various safeguards and security features incorporated in the lottery ticket were also thoroughly verified and did not reveal any tampering of any nature.
Court's Rationale for Dismissing the Petition
Taking these facts into consideration, the High Court observed that it cannot grant the relief sought by the petitioner to withhold disbursal of the prize money unless his complaint is properly investigated. The court emphasized that the evidence presented did not support Sajimon's claims, and the integrity of the lottery ticket remained intact.
Background of the Petitioner's Allegations
In his petition, Sajimon claimed that he had purchased the lottery ticket and kept it in a carry bag along with a steel container containing sacred ghee prasadam from Sabarimala. This container had been left behind by a devotee from Visakhapatnam in his contract carriage minivan, which was transporting Sabarimala pilgrims from Ernakulam.
He further stated that on the day the lottery results were announced, he accidentally fell, became unconscious, and took several days to regain full orientation. Later, he entrusted the carry bag containing the ghee container to the staff of a courier service to send it to Visakhapatnam, without noticing that the lottery ticket had been placed inside it.
Sajimon alleged that the courier staff stole the ticket, which subsequently turned out to be the prize-winning lottery ticket. Following this, he lodged a police complaint seeking an investigation into the matter and approached the High Court seeking a directive to the authorities not to disburse the prize money unless his complaint is properly investigated.
The court's dismissal underscores the importance of concrete evidence in such disputes, highlighting that mere allegations without substantiation are insufficient to halt legal processes like prize disbursements.
