The Kerala Chief Minister Mr Ommen Chandy has described the High Court order in the lottery case as a victory of the UDF stand on the issue. He said the state government would provide all assistance to the CBI and expressed hope that the probe would unearth the lottery fraudsters who had plundered 80,000 crore rupees from the state during the past five years. Former State Finance Minister Dr Thomas Issac said the CBI investigation into the probe should be comprehensive and should cover actions of both the UDF and the LDF governments. A Division Bench of the Kerala High Court comprising Chief Justice J Chelameswar and Justice P R Ramachandra Menon on Tueday cleared the decks for a CBI inquiry into the alleged irregularities in the sale of other state lotteries in Kerala. The Court disposed of the petitions filed by Congress MLA V D Satheesan and V M Sivankutty, a lottery vendor, seeking CBI probe. The decks were cleared in the light of the submission by the union government that the CBI had been instructed to take up the probe, despite shortcomings in the procedure adopted by the state government.