'Ban On Online Rummy Unconstitutional, Unenforceable': Kerala High Court

The observation was made by Single judge Justice TR Ravi while hearing a bunch of petitions that challenged the Kerala government’s ban on online rummy.

Kerala High Court | PTI File Image

Chennai: After the Madras High Court, the Kerala High Court on Monday said that the ban on online games such as rummy and poker that are played with stakes is unconstitutional as it is predominantly a game of skill. 

According to a report in Bar and Bench, the observation was made by Single judge Justice TR Ravi while hearing a bunch of petitions that challenged the Kerala government’s ban on online rummy.

Pointing out that banning online games of skill that are played for money was a violation of fundamental rights, the court said that ban on online rummy was unconstitutional and unenforceable, as per the report. 

The petitioners filed a petition at the Kerala High Court challenging the notification issued by the state government on February 23, 2021 under sections of the Kerala Gaming Act, 1960 which banned ‘online rummy when played with stakes’ and they quoted the Supreme Court judgment in multiple cases including state of Andhra Pradesh vs K Satyanarayana and Ors and KR Lakshmanan vs state of Tamil Nadu and Ors, according to the report. 

As the Supreme Court observed that competitions, where success is dependent on a person’s skill, could not be considered as gambling and therefore, it could not be prohibited under state gambling and gaming legislations, the petitioners said that the game should be protected under Article 19(1)(g) of the Indian Constitution, the report added. 

As the court found merits in the petitioners’ arguments, the court said that the government notification banning the game was unenforceable, the report said. 

Recently, the Madras High Court had struck down the amendment made to the Tamil Nadu Gaming Act, 1930 that imposed a ban on online games played with stakes. The first bench of Chief Justice Sanjib Banerjee and Justice Senthilkumar Ramamoorthy struck down the law while disposing of the writ petitions filed by private companies offering online games including Junglee Games India Private Limited.