In Criminal Case Ruling, Bombay High Court Deems Poker to be a Game of Chance

Bombay High Court
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  • PG News March 30, 2018
  • 2 Minutes Read

In another major blow to the Indian poker industry, a division bench of Justices RM Sawant and Sarang Kotwal of Bombay High Court (HC) ruled that playing the game of poker amounts to gambling and that poker is not a game of skill but one of pure chance.

The judgment was made on Wednesday, March 28 in a writ petition for the squashing of an FIR that was filed by Mumbai resident Nasir Patel who has been charged under various sections of the Maharashtra Prevention of Gambling Act.

It all started on September 8, 2016 when Patel along with 29 other people were caught playing poker during a police raid at an apartment in Goregaon and the police filed an FIR under the Maharashtra Prevention of Gambling Act against them.

Patel moved a writ petition under section 482 Cr.P.C at the Bombay High Court to quash the FIR with his lawyer Ram Mani Upadhyay arguing in court that the game of poker was being played amongst friends in a private premise for entertainment purposes without any money at stake. Secondly, he claimed that no license or permission is required for playing poker in a private premise amongst friends and that there was no law or rule violated in playing the game of poker. The third argument raised was that poker is a game of skill, exempted from the bounds of gambling under the Maharashtra Prevention of Gambling Act.

Even after Patel’s lawyer referred to the Karnataka and Kolkata HC verdicts that ruled poker to be a game of skill, the Bombay HC dismissed the petition with an adverse observation that classified poker to be a game of chance. The bench further observed, “We have perused the description of the game, we find that it is not a game of skill but of pure chance. Prima facie we find that a case under the gambling act has been made out.”

Though the final order has not yet been uploaded on the Bombay High Court website, this ruling by the Bombay High Court is a massive blow to the poker industry. Following on the footsteps of steps taken after the Telangana and Gujarat rulings, it looks like poker websites may have to retract services to Maharashtra residents as well till the time a stay on this order is received.

While the process of appeal is a long and ardous journey, we will be keeping a close eye on the developments in this case.

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