Karnataka HC asks police not to act on Dream11 founders till November 9

The Karnataka High Court on Thursday granted partial relief to Harsh Jain and Bhavit Sheth, the cofounders of Mumbai-based fantasy gaming platform Dream11, by directing the Bengaluru police not to take any coercive action against them till November 9.

The Annapoorneshwari Nagar Police in Bengaluru, early this month, registered an FIR on the fantasy gaming platform on a complaint from a city resident that the game operator was violating the new state law banning wagering and betting in online games.

Justice Sreenivas Harish Kumar directed the city police not to take coercive steps based on the FIR after petitioners sought urgent relief with the plea that they fear police could arrest them any time. The court posted the petitions challenging the FIR for November 9 for a further hearing, and until then, they enjoy protection from arrest by the police.


Jain and Sheth have moved the court seeking that the FIR registered by the Bengaluru Police be quashed.

Karnataka, on October 5, notified the amendments passed by the legislature to the Karnataka Police Act, 1963. The amended law bans online games that are "games of chance" in nature. It makes operation, abetting or sheltering of online games involving exchange of money, betting and wagering “cognizable and non-bailable offence.”