Gujarat HC Dismisses Petition Seeking Overturning Ban On Popular Online Game PUBG

The Gujarat High Court on Friday (12 April) dismissed a PIL filed by the Internet Freedom Federation (IFF) countering the ban imposed on PUBG in March. The petition argues that the ruling is arbitrary and unreasonable and violates Articles 14,19 and 21 of the Constitution of India.

The ban issued in March by the High Court saw several teenagers arrested while playing the game in violation of Section 188 for disobeying the order of the court, several law enforcement departments also issued orders banning anyone playing the game.

Commenting on dismissing the petition Chief Justice Anant S Dave and Justice Biren Vaishnav expressed "We are not satisfied that the scope of the present writ petition falls under the ambit of Public Interest Litigation", reports livelaw.

The petition argues that the police have exercised their powers in excess under section 144 even though the article cannot be invoked on basis of remote possibility of a threat.

It also states that there has not been any recent events of violence or any such threat induced while playing the game and there is no credible scientific evidence that playing the game can endanger the health of persons.

The petitioner states that “The ban is based on a "moral panic" without any verifiable data showing ill effects of the game”.

PUBG, is one of the most popular online games in the world with as many as 400 million players playing the game worldwide.