Madras High Court strikes down ban on online card games in Tamil Nadu

The Madras High Court on Tuesday struck down Tamil Nadu’s ban on online gaming, providing relief to gaming companies that had challenged the legislation — introduced first as an ordinance — last year.

The Gaming & Police Laws (Amendment) Act, 2021, banned betting or wagering in cyberspace on poker, rummy and also games of skill if played for a wager, bet, money or other stakes. The oral order by a bench of Chief Justice Sanjib Banerjee and Justice Senthilkumar Ramamoorthy came on a batch of petitions filed by online gaming companies challenging the government action in November 2020. The judgement copy was not available as of press time Tuesday.

The court, while striking down the amendment, called it unconstitutional, though it added that its directive would not prevent the government from introducing appropriate legislation conforming to Constitutional principles of propriety.