The Madurai Bench of Madras High Court has sought response from Tamil Nadu Government regarding its position on online gambling.
A division bench of justices N Kirubakaran and B Pugalendh was hearing a public interest litigation filed by S Muthukumar, an advocate and resident of Madurai district who had pleaded before court to direct government to ban online gambling.
It is notable that many people have lost their lives in different parts of the country owing to losses in online gambling platforms such as Rummy, Poker etc.
Central legislation does not deal with online gambling and this has prompted various states to exclusively ban online gambling.
However, state of Tamil Nadu has not yet banned online gambling and therefore Madras HC has sought response from TN govt. and central govt. as to its stand on online gambling.
Additional advocate general M Sricharan Rangarajan, appearing for TN govt. stated before Hon’ble court that CM Edappadi K Palaniswami has already issued statement that he is going to ban online gambling soon by passing an ordinance or by bringing an amendment in the law.
On this submission, the division bench observed that if the govt. has made clear that it is going to ban online gambling in the state, it should submit its response accordingly before the court.