Plea to ban PUBG: Punjab & Haryana HC directs MEITY to consider representation by petitioner

The High Court of Punjab and Haryana recently directed the Union Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MEITY) to look into a representation made for the immediate ban of the online multiplayer battle royal game, PUBG (Player Unknown’s Battle Grounds). .As per MeiTY letter, this representation is presently "under examination" by the Union Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MEITY). PUBG is owned by Chinese based Tenecent Games. .The petitioner, Advocate HC Arora had approached the Court last month after his representation to MEITY went unanswered. .On December 9, last year, the Bench of Chief Justice Rajiv Shanker Jha and Justice Rajiv Sharma disposed of the plea with a direction that the Central Government take a decision on the petitioner's representation expeditiously. The Bench added,."It is made clear that we are not expressing any opinion on the merits of the case and the authority will be at liberty to take all the facts and facets into consideration and thereafter accept or reject the representation of the petitioner in accordance with law. The decision so taken shall be conveyed to the petitioner.".Before the High Court, the petitioner, HC Arora, had echoed concerns raised before the MEITY that a large number of school-going children are addicted to the game, leading them to neglect their academics.They [children] are virtually addicted to this game, and remain glued to their mobile phones for the purpose of watching this game even for 4 or 5 hours every day.Plea to ban PUBG.Arora further contended that the PUBG causes various mental and physical health problems in children. The petitioner submitted that owing the long hours spent playing the game, the sleep patterns of children are disrupted. The long hours spent staring at the screening device also takes a toll on their eyes and leads to headaches, the plea stated. .It was further submitted that PUBG normalises violence, thereby sending the wrong message to children. In this regard, the petition also argued that,."The entire game teaches the children as to how to catch hold of the targeted person and to kill him. It is virtually an attempt to convert the children into future criminals and murderers."Plea to ban PUBG.In this backdrop, the petitioner had argued that the addiction to the game is similar to a drug addiction. The petition stated, ."... that just like addiction to drugs, which has destroyed the youth of our country, particularly in the States like Punjab, this PUBG game also has the potential to destroy the coming generation, i.e. our school going children, who are losing interest in studies and have become addicted to PUBG game."Plea to ban PUBG.The petitioner proceeded to draw a parallels between PUBG and the “Blue Whale” game, that claimed the lives of many players earlier, owing which it was subsequently banned. On similar concerns, the petitioner argued,."There is no reason why India should not follow suit for the purpose of saving our future generation, i.e., our children. Similar concrete action is required to be taken for banning PUBG game also "..[Read the PIL here].[Read the Punjab and Haryana HC order]