Judgment

C.K. Thakker, J. —

1.Leave granted.

2.The present appeals have been instituted by the appellants against the Judgment and Order dated 19th July, 2007 passed by the High Court of Kerala in Criminal Revision Petition No. 4126 of 2006 and companion matters. By the impugned Order, the High Court dismissed revision petitions filed by the appellants herein as also by the State of Kerala.

3.To understand the issue raised in the present appeals, few relevant facts may be stated :

4.The appellants are partners of M/s LIS, Ernakulam, a partnership firm engaged in the business of sale of lotteries and magazines after collecting advance money. They floated a scheme known as “LIS Deepasthambham Scheme”. The scheme was simple in its conception. A person has to pay Rs.625/- and purchase one unit of lotteries from the promoters. The promoters will make use of Rs.350/- to purchase 35 lottery tickets of the Kerala State Government each of Rs.10/- for the unit holder for the next 35 weeks. If the unit holder wins any prize up to Rs.5,000/- in the 35 draws, the promoters shall collect the amount and pay the same to the unit holder. If the unit holder wins any prize above Rs.5,000/-, the ticket sha