Madras High Court Challenges the Tamil Nadu Ordinance: Online Gaming Ban

A petition submitted by the All India Gaming Federation argues rummy and poker are games of skill, and would not fall under the jurisdiction of "betting and gambling".
The Tamil Nadu government's new ordinance banning internet gambling has been challenged in the Madras High Court. The hearing was continued until November 16 by the first bench of Acting Chief Justice T Raja and Justice D Bharatha Chakravarthy, who heard the PIL plea from All India Gaming Federation's general secretary Sunil Krishnamurthy on Thursday. The court suit seeks to declare unlawful, The Tamil Nadu Ordinance No 4 of 2022, often known as the Tamil Nadu Prohibition of Online Gambling and Regulation of Online Games Ordinance. Among other reasons, the petitioner claimed that the authorities passed the disputed ordinance explicitly categorizing Rummy and Poker as games of chance, despite the fact that they are games of skill. As such, they would not belong to the category of "betting and gambling". In reality, the Law Commission of India said clearly in its 276th report that they were games of skill since more talented players would always prevail over less skilled or newbies. This was also confirmed by the High Court in Junglee Games, and the Supreme Court did not suspend the ruling. The Ordinance will cause some members of the petitioner organization to cease operations in Tamil Nadu, the petitioner said, and thus requested a stay of proceedings. The Tamil Nadu government enacted an ordinance last month to outlaw internet gambling and regulate online games in the state, and it announced the establishment of an online gaming body will further be established to exercise the powers conferred by the ordinance.