OBITER

Game Over

A judge in Australia has halted a drug conspiracy trial after some of the jurors were found playing the puzzle game Sudoku. The judge was alerted after jurors were observed writing vertically, rather than horizontally. It had been assumed they were taking notes while evidence was being given. The trial had been running for 66 days and cost taxpayers an estimated A$950,000.

The jury foreman admitted to the judge that he and several other jurors were playing puzzle games for up to half the time the trial had been going on. 'Some of the evidence is rather drawn out and I find it difficult to maintain my attention the whole time, and that (Sudoku playing) doesn't distract me too much from proceedings'.

Jurors in the trial are anonymous, and no action can be taken against them. A new trial is expected to begin in a few weeks.

Weighty Issue

An Indian court has ruled that the national airline, Air India, can ground overweight cabin crew members. Two years ago, Air India warned its nearly 1,600 cabin crew workers to shape up in two months or risk being assigned to ground duties. When the airline grounded staff it deemed overweight, some of them took it to court. The Delhi High Court said in a judgment that there was 'no unreasonableness or arbitrariness' in the airline's decision.

Casinos Beware

Local IR operators may wish to take note. Thousands of problem gamblers in Canada have launched a C$3.5 billion class action lawsuit in Ontario, saying they were allowed into provincially-run casinos despite signing up for a programme that should have denied them entry.

According to the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation's website, the suit was filed against the Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation for not fully enforcing a 'self exclusion' programme that allows problem gamblers to ban themselves from casinos. Those who sign up for the programme are photographed and their personal information is stored in binders at all of the province's casinos. Programme members caught trying to enter a casino can be arrested for trespassing.

According to the CBC, gamblers who had signed up for the programme said it was not working, including one who returned frequently for years after signing up for the programme.

The `Accidental' Divorce

A happily married couple in northern India got the shock of their lives when they learnt they had divorced 10 years ago. Meena Verma, a mother of two children, tried to file a case against her in-laws for violence, only to be told by a court in Haryana state that she had been divorced for a decade. Her husband told the Times of India that his brother, a lawyer, had apparently forged the divorce a decade earlier, when the couple was contemplating making a similar complaint. It appeared that the divorce was doctored to defeat his wife's possible complaint. The couple has now filed a petition accusing Meena's brother-in-law and four associates of forgery, but the accusation is being denied.