Online gaming and Karnataka High Court ruling

17/02/2022

475 2 minutes read

(GS paper-2 judgement and cases)

Recently the Karnataka high court delivered a judgement to strike down major portion of Karnataka police amendment act 2021 which aimed to ban online gambling and skill-based platforms of gaming.

In the present context there is no proper comprehensive legislation with respect to the legality of online gaming

High court ruling

High Court have struck down the three major amendments of Karnataka police act on following grounds

According to court amendments are violating fundamental right given under article 19 and article 21

According to the court this act is not distinguishing between the two major categories of game that is game of skill game of chance
A game of skill if primarily based on the mental and physical level of expertise of any player rather than on luck

A game of chance is determined by a random factor

The court had also stated that the state government has not provided enough data for the reason of sweeping ban

According to the judgement of court playing online games could be helpful in building the character of a person and if a person enjoys playing online gaming it falls under freedom of expression and right to liberty and privacy which is guaranteed under the Constitution of India

In the opinion of “put an outright ban there should be regulatory norms in this regard

Karnataka Police amendment act 2021

This act was introduced by the state government to put a ban on online gambling and skill-based gaming platforms

The game covered under this act one involve any wagering or risking of money

Other state of India and such laws

Apart from Karnataka Tamil Nadu government has also introduced such type of law which was struck down by the court of Madras in August 2021

Kerala High Court has also Quashed the notification issued by the government of Kerala banning the online game of rummy

Reason behind banning online gaming

Various scholars,social activist, committees and officials of law enforcement has pointed out that the online gaming when associated with monitory stakes leads to suicides depression and other mounting debts

Recently World Health Organization has also announced to declared online gaming as a gaming disorder related to mental health condition

Reason behind ruckus

There should not be an outright ban to curtail a problem but should be regulatory norms to prevent it

Telangana was the first state to ban online games has seen a spate of illegal and underground online apps related to gambling mostly which is originated from China or other nations and people accept payments from various dummy companies

However various majors have been taken by the Enforcement Directorate but very limited success has been obtained

Central laws related to gambling and betting

The lotteries regulation act 1998- Lottery is totally considered illegal in country

IPC 1860- It is a provision of punishing a person who does any illegal act in a public place or near public place

Price competition at 1955- In this act prize in the competition have been define

IT Rules 2011- Under this act any internet service provider or any search engine should not host any content which indirectly or directly supports gambling activities.

Way forward approach

In place of blanket ban state could work on licensing and regulatory norms

There should be a gaming authority be created at Central level to take responsibility for monitoring of online gaming and Consumer protection as well as illegality

source: https://www.thehindu.com/opinion/op-ed/questioning-the-ban-on-online-gaming-platforms/article65052847.ece