By Advocate Vikas Bansal
Following up on its ordinance, promulgated by Governor Banwarilal Purohit on November 20 last year, the Tamil Nadu legislative assembly has now introduced an amendment bill in the house, en route to an act that will ban online gambling. The ingredients of the bill are as stringent as the original Tamil Nadu Gaming and Police Laws (Amendment) Ordinance, 2020. Online betting is still legal in the country, with states having the power to outlaw them.
The amendment bill, placed by the Deputy Chief Minister O Panneerselvam, makes wagering or betting while playing rummy and poker illegal in the state. It will invite imprisonment up to two years or fine up to Rs 10,000 or both.
The ban on gambling in the state extends to Chennai, Madurai, Coimbatore, Salem, Tiruchirappalli and Tirunelveli, as per the Chennai City Police Act, 1888. Across other parts of the state this act will be as per the Tamil Nadu Gaming Act, 1930.
The government will also amend the Tamil Nadu Gaming Act, 1930, and extend its application throughout the state. The Chennai City Police Act, 1888, and the Tamil Nadu District Police Act, 1859, will also be amended.
The Madras High Court had on July 24 last year observed that the central and state governments could pass legislation regulating and controlling online games that involve money. The Court said: “This Court is not against the virtual games, but, the anguish of this Court is that there should be a regulatory body to monitor and regulate the legal gaming activities, be it in the real world or the virtual world.
“We should not lose sight of the fact that nowadays, almost in all the social media, youngsters are being attracted to play such online games, by alluring with prize money… In fact, these online games lure the unemployed youth (promising) that they can earn money by playing these games,” Justice B Pugalendhi of the Court had said.
In November 2020, two petitions were filed before the Madurai bench of the Madras High Court seeking a complete ban or direction against online gambling, including online rummy. Both the matters were heard by a bench led by Justice B Pugalendhi.
In the pre-Independence era, the British encouraged gambling in India to earn tax revenues. Later, finding the negative impacts, anti-gambling legislation began to take shape in India.
The Public Gambling Act of India, 1867, was enacted by the British to govern gambling activities in India. A significant portion of the Act was derived from the Gaming Act, 1845, and the Betting Act,1853, enacted by the Parliament of the United Kingdom. The Act provided several restrictions on most forms of gambling.
After the adoption of the Constitution in the post-independence era, betting and gambling were listed under Entry 34 of the State List (i.e., List II of the Seventh Schedule). Hence, only the state legislature has the power to make laws pertaining to betting and gambling and most states have adopted the principles of the Public Gambling Act, 1857, with certain amendments, and each state has its own act on gambling.
Besides Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Karnataka, Assam and Odisha also have laws imposing restrictions on online gaming.
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Advocate Vikas Bansal is a practising advocate in the Supreme Court of India.
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