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Informist, Tuesday, Sept. 1, 2026

 

NEW DELHI – The Supreme Court Tuesday issued notices to Daman and Diu and its tourism department on Delta Corp. Ltd.'s plea, seeking a licence to install electronic amusement games or slot machines at its The Deltin Hotel in the Union territory. Observing that the case would be heard on merit, the Bench of Justice P.S. Narasimha and Justice Alok Aradhe listed the matter for hearing on Oct. 1.

 

Delta Corp. argued that the Goa Public Gambling (Amendment) Act, 1992, which allowed for electronic amusement at five-star hotels, was applicable to Daman and Diu. Goa, Daman, and Diu were earlier a single Union territory of India from 1961 until 1987. Delta Corp had argued that a letter issued to it in 2007 by the administration of Union territory of Daman and Diu had stated that the request to grant the licence for operating games of electronic amusement or slot machines was examined and it was found that such activity was permissible under the 1992 Goa Amendment Act which extended to Daman and Diu. 

 

Delta Corp. said the administrator of Daman and Diu had made a promise that such activity was permissible and that the Union territory had no objection to grant the licence for operating those games in a five-star hotel. Delta Corp. had said that before making the application for licence to install these games, it had constructed The Deltin Hotel in 2010. They had raised the money through loans, corporate deposits and the total investment was more than INR 4.50 billion, said the company. 

 

Further, the administration of Daman and Diu had published a notification in 2008 referring to the procedure and forms for application to obtain licence for operating games of electronic amusement or slot machines in a five-star hotel, said Delta Corp. The preamble of the notification mentions that Daman and Diu was pleased to authorise games of electronic amusement or slot machines subject to the terms and conditions mentioned in the notification, said Delta Corp.

 

In April, the Bombay High Court had held that the use of electronic amusement or slot machines remained strictly prohibited and its operation would be an offence in Daman and Diu. In the present case, the mode of bringing the 1992 Act into force was with the Centre, said the high court. The central government had to announce the date for bringing it into force, it said. This was not done and, hence, the 1992 Act was never in force for Daman and Diu, it added.

 

The  government's withdrawal of 2008 notification in 2014 shows that it was not in the best interest of the people in that locality to have the slot machines or electronic amusements used in a five-star hotel in Daman and Diu, said the high court. Since the policy was issued in the public interest, writ of mandamus based on the doctrine of promissory estoppel or legitimate expectation cannot be passed, the high court had said.

 

Delta Corp. cannot take recourse to the doctrine of promissory estoppel or legitimate expectation because rejection of the application for licence in 2018 by the Centre and Daman and Diu was based on public policy, said the high court. It was within the domain of the legislature and the administrator to consider what is the policy that serves the best interest of the people in Daman and Diu, said the high court. It was their policy decision and in this case, the court cannot interfere in the policy decision, it added. 

 

At 1335 IST, the shares of Delta Corp. were down 1.1% at INR 57.81 on the National Stock Exchange.  End

 

IST, or Indian Standard Time, is five-and-a-half hours ahead of GMT

 

Reported by Surya Tripathi

Edited by Akul Nishant Akhoury

 

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