The appeals filed by the governments of Tamil Nadu and Karnataka in the the Supreme Court on the validity of online gaming regulations will be heard today. A three-judge panel comprising of justices Aniruddha Bose, Sanjay Kumar, and SV Bhatti will hear the appeal. The petitions filed by the states of Tamil Nadu and Karnataka challenge the respective High Court judgments that struck down gaming ban laws enacted by the states. The matter was listed in February 2023, with a four-week deadline.
The Supreme Court’s ruling in these matters is going to be critical because it will influence the fate of the online skill gaming business in the country. Senior attorneys Mukul Rohatgi, Shyam Divan, and A M Singhvi had represented the gaming firms associations at the previous sessions of hearings.
“The High Court also gravely failed to note the fact that betting or wagering on horse racing conducted only on the race track shall be permissible under the Karnataka Act, wherein the interference by authorities would effectively regulate the same, unlike the situation in online platforms,” it noted.
In a similar appeal, the Supreme Court last week instructed the Andhra Pradesh High Court to reconsider issues related to online rummy in light of the Central Government’s notification of the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Amendment Rules, 2023.
Content & Image Courtesy: Gateway To Gaming