Delhi HC Disposes of the PIL’s Against Online Poker & Betting, Passes the Buck to Centre

Delhi HC
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  • Namita Ghosh November 29, 2019
  • 2 Minutes Read

The still nascent but fast-growing real-money gaming industry in the country has off late been hit by a barrage of legal challenges. The most recent of these were two Public Interest Litigations (PIL) that were filed at the Delhi High Court, one by social activist Avinash Mehrotra and the second by lawyer Deepti Bhagat.

Both these petitions questioned the skill element in games like poker and other card games and sought a ban on domestic and offshore poker and betting sites. All eyes were on the Delhi High Court that had scheduled the matters to be heard on November 28.

Hearing the matter and considering the response submitted by the Union government and the government of Delhi, the division bench comprising of Chief Justice DN Patel and Justice C Hari Shankar disposed of the PIL`s.

The court has, through a common order, directed the Union government and the government of Delhi to consider these two PILs as representations, and take a decision on whether to ban websites like Adda52, PokerStars.in, 1xbet, Dafabet, and Betway. The court has also asked the government to ascertain whether these sites host games of skills or chance, effectively passing the buck of making a decision back to the government.

 

The PIL`s

On May 21, Chartered Accountant and social activist Avinash Mehrotra filed a PIL in Delhi High Court, seeking that the Union Ministry of IT and Reserve Bank of India (RBI) should “bring illegal and illicit online gambling/ betting/ wagering/ gaming to an end.”

Mehrotra charged that several foreign betting sites were illegally accepting payments from Indian users and allowing them to wager large sums of money. Such players were flouting the FEMA and money-laundering regulations and not paying taxes.

Mehrotra sought a blanket ban on gaming websites. Hearing the PIL, a division bench of Chief Justice Rajendra Menon and Justice Brijesh Sethi turned down Mehrotra’s plea to grant an interim injunction in October. However, the court directed the government to respond to the petition and listed the matter for hearing on November 28.

The same month, lawyer Deepti Bhagat filed a similar PIL at the Delhi High Court seeking a ban on poker and similar card games like rummy, bridge, and teen patti. In her plea, Bhagat argued that since a player has no control over the cards being dealt, poker was a game of chance and not skill, and therefore playing it for high stakes or profit amounted to gambling and was illegal.

Hearing Bhagat’s petition, a division bench of Chief Justice DN Patel and Justice C. Hari Shankar issued a notice to the Finance Ministry and the Delhi government. They were directed to indicate their stand on the plea. The court clubbed the hearing of Bhagat’s PIL with that of the scheduled hearing of Mehrotra’s PIL since both petitions held a similar premise and sought near-identical reliefs.

 

The Government`s Stand

The Ministry of Electronics and IT had earlier through an affidavit submitted that blocking of online gaming sites was technologically infeasible since many states have enforced laws that partially or wholly allow such activities to take place legally.

The Delhi government, in its response to the court’s notice, said that it can take action against a gambling website only if it was being hosted in the national capital or if there were instances of offline gambling.

 

What the Delhi HC Order States

Hearing both PILs on November 28, the division bench of Chief Justice DN Patel and Justice C. Harishankar disposed of the two PIL’s.

The main points listed in the order are:

> The court has issued a common order wherein it has directed the Central government and the Delhi government to consider the two PIL’s as representations.

> The Delhi HC has asked both the center and state governments to ascertain whether websites like Adda52, PokerStars.in, etc., referred to in the PILs were hosting games of chance or skill and subsequently take a decision on banning them.

> The court has asked the government to also consider the aspects of money laundering, taxation of gaming proceeds, and FEMA violations in taking the decision.

Gambling is considered as a state subject in India, and online poker is legal in most states in the country barring states like Telangana, Assam, and Orissa, where the state laws legally prohibit offline and online poker. With the two PILs disposed of the court’s corridor, it is now upon the government to take a final call on the matter.

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