Tamil Nadu Cabinet Approves Ordinance To Ban Online Gambling

The Tamil Nadu Cabinet on Monday approved an ordinance to ban online games with stakes in the state. The ordinance will be put into effect after the approval of the governor, a government statement said.

This move comes at a time when the Tamil Nadu government has filed a petition challenging the Madras High Court's judgement that had struck down a similar ban on online gambling by the previous state government in August 2021.

On September 9, the Supreme Court had issued notice to all respondents of the petition, giving them four weeks to file their replies, with the case expected to be listed after 10 weeks.

Earlier, the Tamil Nadu government had moved the Supreme Court against the Madras High Court’s order that struck down the Tamil Nadu Gaming and Police Laws (Amendment) Act of 2021 that banned playing of games such as rummy and poker on cyberspace with stakes. 

However, the HC had said that there was nothing to prevent the State from enacting a new law to regulate these games.

The Tamil Nadu government said that though rummy might be a game of skill, the game using stakes will become gambling.

(This story has been published from a wire agency feed without any modifications to the text. Only the headline has been changed.)