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The Madras High Court has struck down the Tamil Nadu Gaming and Police Laws (Amendment) Act of 2021 which had imposed a blanket ban on online betting games such as rummy and poker with stakes. The Act was put in place by the previous AIADMK government.

Beyond the power, says HC

The Tamil Nadu Gaming and Police Laws (Amendment) Act, 2021 was declared as ultra vires the constitution in its entirety by the court. The high court, however, stated that nothing can prevent the Tamil Nadu government from bringing suitable legislation for betting and gambling in the state.

The order was passed by the first bench of Chief Justice Sanjib Banerjee and Justice Senthilkumar Ramamoorthy. The bench was hearing a batch of cases filed by private companies that were involved in online gaming and said that the legislation passed by the Tamil Nadu government was excessive and disproportionate to the object. The petitioners who had challenged the validity of the law claimed that the business they were running across India was legitimate.

Government argument

The Tamil Nadu government countered the argument by saying that youngsters and adults, especially between the age group of 25-30, were losing their incomes and savings in these online betting games. The state government added that games like rummy might need skills, but when played for stakes, it is called gambling.

In complete disagreement with the state of Tamil Nadu, the bench said the State legislature had made a mistake in expanding its field of legislation by widening the scope of gambling. The state also attributed a connotation to betting that the relevant entry in the state list does not envision.

In addition to that, the bench said that the Tamil Nadu Gaming and Police Laws (Amendment) Act, 2021 does not appear to be genuinely referable to the field of legislation allotted to Tamil Nadu under Entry-34 of the state list in the Constitution.