The Karnataka High Court called the ban “unconstitutional”.
Bangalore (Karnataka):
The Karnataka High Court on Monday struck down an amendment to the Karnataka Police Act, 2021, which had banned online gambling, and said “it was unconstitutional”.
A division bench of Chief Justice Ritu Raj Awasthi and Justice Krishna S Dixit said that nothing in the judgment shall be construed to prevent a law that is proper as per the Constitution.
The bench declared certain provisions of the Karnataka Act No. 28/2021, relating to regulation of online gaming activities, as ultra vires to the Constitution of India.
“The consequences of the repeal of the provisions shall follow. However, nothing in this judgment shall be construed to prevent, in accordance with the provisions of the Constitution, an appropriate law relating to the subject of betting and gambling. A writ of mandamus is to the defendants. to prevent interfering in the online gaming business and allied activities of the petitioners,” the bench said.
The state government, by amending the Karnataka Police Act, 1963, prohibited the playing of skill games, including online games, at risk of money or otherwise, and declared it an offence. The petitioners, including the All India Gaming Federation, claimed that games like poker, chess, rummy, fantasy sports are all games of skill and games of opportunity and games of skill expressly in various court orders.
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