Thu. Mar 28th, 2024
imagesource:livelaw.inimagesource:livelaw.in

The Madras High Court last week issued notices to the State and Centre to file a reply in response to a PIL filed by a Chennai-based advocate AP Suryaprakasam.

Mr. Suryaprakasam on August 3, 2020 had filed a Public Interest Litigation petition before Madras High Court seeking a ban on online gambling sites and for taking action against famous celebrities promoting such online gambling applications.

The plea came before a division bench comprising Justice M M Sundresh and Justice R Hemalatha, who on August 26, 2020 directed the Centre and the State to reply to such notice issued by the HC within three weeks.

The petitioner asserted in his petition that the youth are getting embroiled in the online gambling activities and are getting addicted to it. He maintained that when there is a ban on physical form of gambling, the lack of rules and looming uncertainty has led to the mushrooming of ‘unethical and immoral online gambling’.

The petitioner advocate also specifically named cricketer Virat Kohli and actress Tamannaah as the ones abetting and promoting such illegal activities by endorsing the brands. The PIL stated that unable to win and in failing to get back their amount, the youngsters commit suicide and therefore, the celebrities, in a way, are abetting such suicides.

The plea asserted that such celebrities should be arrested as they brainwash the minds of the youngsters and all such gambling websites should be closed down. He drew an analogy with deadly ‘BlueWhale Game’ which was also an online game and was banned by several courts for allegedly abetting the commission of suicide. He further stated that in the interest of society and the youngsters, specifically, these gambling apps and sites should be banned.

The Madurai Bench of Madras High court has issued the notice to the Centre and the State to reply to this petition. The Madras HC, on an earlier occasion, had directed the State to frame clear laws with respect to online gambling.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *