The Madras High Court on Thursday upheld the validity of a Tamil Nadu act that banned online games, but exempted rummy and poker as they were games of skill.
The ban enforced by the Tamil Nadu Prohibition of Online Gambling and Regulation of Online Games Act, 2022, is specifically limited to games of chance, implying that activities deemed as purely reliant on luck or chance will be prohibited under its provisions.
A bench of Chief Justice SV Gangapurwala and Justice PD Audikesavalu clarified that the act would not be enforceable for games like rummy and poker, which were categorised as games of skill. It will only apply to games of chance. This distinction implies that the legal restrictions within the act would not be applicable to games that primarily involve skill-based elements.
The court emphasised the government's authority to regulate both games of skill and games of chance by imposing various limitations, such as restricting the time spent playing and setting age limits.
However, it said the government cannot outright prohibit games of skill, underscoring the importance of allowing such activities to continue within the bounds of regulation.
Online gaming companies involved had contested the constitutionality of the act. They also requested a temporary suspension of the act's implementation until the final decision was made.
The court declined to grant an interim suspension, saying the arguments for both interim relief and final relief were essentially the same. It decided to hear the case in its entirety, suggesting that a final judgment could be reached without the need for interim measures.
The Tamil Nadu government had previously submitted before the high court its concerns about the detrimental effects of online gaming addiction, emphasising its destructive impact on families.
The government said that as a response to these concerns, it had proposed and subsequently, enacted a new act to prohibit all forms of online gaming within the state.
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