Copyright thehindu
The Supreme Court, on November 3, asked the Union government to respond to a petition to prohibit online gambling and betting platforms operating under the guise of social and e-sports games. A Bench of Justices J.B. Pardiwala and K.V. Viswanathan agreed to hear the petition on Tuesday, even as the counsel for Centre for Accountability and Systemic Change (CASC) and Shourya Tiwari, advocate Virag Gupta, submitted that details of about 2,000 betting and gambling apps had been earlier shared with the Centre. Mr. Gupta said the petition was focused on protecting children from being exposed to such apps. The plea has sought a direction to Ministries of Electronics and Information Technology, Information and Broadcasting, Finance, and Youth Affairs and Sports “to do a harmonious interpretation of provisions of Promotion and Regulation of Online Gaming Act, 2025 and laws made by State legislatures, to prohibit online gambling and betting games operating in the guise of social and e-sports games”. It said betting and gambling were regarded as an unlawful activity in the majority of the States in India. However, over 65 crore persons were still playing these games, creating an annual business of more than ₹1.8 lakh crore for betting platforms in India. Counsel has sought blocking orders under Section 69A of the IT Act against all unlawful betting and gambling platforms in the country.
