Online Gambling Games: Karnataka May Work On A New Draft, Fixing Contentious Parts In Old Law

Karnataka might draft another regulation to disallow online wagering and betting. This comes after the regulation it established last year was halfway saved by the High Court on Monday. Home minister Araga Jnanendra let ET know that his area of expertise would prefer to have another regulation set up than engaging against the judgment. "...nothing in this judgment shall be construed to prevent an appropriate legislation being brought about concerning the subject i.e., 'Betting & gambling' per provisions of the Constitution," a division bench of Chief Justice Ritu Raj Awasthi and Justice Krishna S Dixit had said in their 123-page judgment. The public authority, Jnanendra said, is concentrating on the judgment exhaustively, particularly the areas of the law that the court said were not in conformity with the Constitution. "We would like to redress these inadequacies, and work on an elective draft that would remain in a courtroom," the home minister said. The state government has the choice of appealing before the Supreme Court. The home department would like to keep that as the last choice, high-ranking representatives said. "The public authority has gotten a few solicitations from families of victims to boycott online wagering and betting in online games. They say it has destroyed them monetarily," Jnanendra said. The public authority, he added, stays focused on prohibiting it with suitable regulation. The subject, official sources said, is relied upon to figure in conversations at the most elevated level in the public authority, including by chief minister Basavaraj Bommai and, presumably, the Cabinet. The public authority is right now occupied with the continuous Assembly meeting, and its stand will turn out to be clear either in the following not many days or after the session ends. The online gaming regulation, which came into power in October last year after revisions to the Karnataka Police Act, 1963, was being controlled by the police office till it was struck down. Various online gaming firms, including the All India Gaming Federation (AIGF), had mounted a legitimate challenge. They have hailed Monday's decision. Advocate General Prabhulinga Navadgi said since a strategy way to deal with online betting may likewise require views from the law and IT/BT offices, the public authority is relied upon to accept the last call solely after hearing out the two offices. Requests against unfavorable decisions have forever been a default choice for the public authority, an authoritative source said, adding that an unmistakable picture for this situation will arise solely after a couple of days. On Monday, the court suppressed the revisions to Sections 2, 78, 87, 128(a), and 17(b) of the 1963 Act that managed the meaning of online gaming and betting, administrators, and punishment and penalties for any offenses submitted under these segments. By these changes, the public authority had made offenses under the online gaming regulation cognizable and non-bailable.       Credit: The Economic Times