HC scraps law banning online games with stakes
The Hindu
‘No study conducted to justify ban’
The Madras High Court on Tuesday struck down part II of the Tamil Nadu Gaming and Police Laws (Amendment) Act of 2021, through which the legislature had imposed a blanket ban on rummy, poker and all other games played online for a wager, bet, money or other stake irrespective of it being a game of skill or a game of chance. Chief Justice Sanjib Banerjee and Justice Senthilkumar Ramamoorthy held that the government had prohibited games of skill merely on the basis of “anecdotal” reference to a few suicides and subjective perception of addiction to online games with stakes. “In the absence of any scientific or empirical study, the impugned legislation may be seen to have been born out of a sense of morality and a bid to play to the galleries in election season in a societal ethos where smoking and drinking are regarded as less immoral than when indulged in before elders… That the Bill faced no opposition in the House has more to do with the optics,” the judges said.More Related News