── Zafar v. State Lottery Commission ──
Court: Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court
Date: May 13, 2026
Category: General
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SJC-13864
MD ZAFAR vs. STATE LOTTERY COMMISSION.
Plymouth. March 2, 2026. - May 13, 2026.
Present: Budd, C.J., Gaziano, Kafker, Wendlandt, Georges,
Dewar, & Wolohojian, JJ.
State Lottery Commission. Lottery. License. Administrative
Law, Regulations, Agency's interpretation of statute,
Substantial evidence, Judicial review. Regulation.
Statute, Construction. Constitutional Law, Regulation.
Due Process of Law, Vagueness of regulation. Practice,
Civil, Burden of proof, Judgment on the pleadings.
Evidence, Acquittal in prior criminal trial. Rape.
Civil action commenced in the Superior Court Department on
March 7, 2024.
The case was heard by Mark A. Hallal, J., on motions for
judgment on the pleadings.
The Supreme Judicial Court on its own initiative
transferred the case from the Appeals Court.
Konstantin Tretyakov, Assistant Attorney General, for the
defendant.
Jason C. Howard for the plaintiff.
2
KAFKER, J. As provided by statute, the director of the
State Lottery Commission (commission) "shall license as agents
to sell lottery tickets such persons as in his opinion will best
serve the public convenience," and "may refuse to issue a
license to any person who has been convicted of a felony . . .
and who, in the opinion of [the] director, is not of good moral
character to act as a licensed agent to sell lottery tickets."
G. L. c. 10, §§ 26, 27. Here, the plaintiff, MD Zafar, sought
to renew his sales agent license for one of his convenience
stores. The commission learned during the application process
that Zafar had been charged with and acquitted of raping his
wife. Relying on the transcripts from Zafar's criminal trial,
and discrediting Zafar's testimony before him, a hearing officer
found by a preponderance of the evidence that Zafar had raped
Esha.1 The hearing officer then applied the commission's
regulations, 961 Code Mass. Regs. § 2.13(3) and (7) (1998),2 and
concluded: "Rape is an abhorrent crime that demonstrates a
deficient moral character. Awarding a sales agent license to an
individual of deficient moral character does not serve the
Lottery, the public, or the Commonwealth."
1 A pseudonym.
2 A new version of 961 Code Mass. Regs. §§ 2.00 took effect
on February 13, 2026, but § 2.13 does not substantively differ
and subsections (3) and (7) are unchanged.
3
Zafar sought judicial review of the commission's decision,
arguing that (1) § 2.13(7) of the commission's regulations,
which provides for the denial of a license based on deficient
moral character alone, exceeds the commission's statutory
authority, (2) the commission's decision was not supported by
substantial evidence, and (3) § 2.13(7) is unconstitutionally
vague. A Superior Court judge allowed Zafar's motion for
judgment on the pleadings, concluding that the statute, G. L.
c. 10, § 27, requires both a felony conviction and a moral
character determination before the commission can deny an
applicant a sales license. Because § 2.13(7) of the
commission's regulations allows the commission to deny a sales
license upon a finding of deficient moral character alone,
without a felony conviction, the judge held that the regulation
exceeds the commission's statutory authority. The judge also
held that the commission's finding that Zafar had r