Is Poker a game of skill or gambling? Bombay High Court asks Maharashtra govt

The Aurangabad Bench of the Bombay High Court on Tuesday sought the stand of the Maharashtra government on whether Poker is a game of skill or gambling.."On the last date, we had expressed ourselves that we need to understand the stand of State of Maharashtra as to whether this Poker game is gambling or it is a game of skill," the Bench of Justices VK Jadhav and SC More observed..The reply was sought in a public interest litigation filed by activist Munawar Ahmed seeking the Court's intervention in view of the State's failure to curb the game of Poker being played through online and offline avenues, which he alleged was an illegal activity as per the Bombay Prevention of Gambling Act..He stated in the PIL filed through Advocate Ajay Deshpande that owing to the inaction of Maharashtra government, private companies have continued to indulge in this illegal activity while passing off the game as a "game of skill", despite knowing that the game was about betting and wagering. After the Bench was informed that the private companies had filed their response to the plea, it sought the stand taken by the Maharashtra government.In response, Additional Public Prosecutor MM Nerlikar sought for time to file a reply, which was granted by the Bench.The matter was adjourned to February 8, 2022..Ahmed clarified in his plea that he was not remotely concerned with the illegal activities of the companies. His concern lay with the possibility that private companies may start conducting other such illegal games by passing off the same as games of skill rather than gambling. The petition pointed out that since the activities that the respondents were conducting were in contravention of statutory provisions, they could not invoke the fundamental right to freedom of trade as granted under Article 19(1)(g) of the Constitution of India. .Ahmed was prompted to file the petition as the government had failed to take necessary steps to enforce the Bombay Prevention of Gambling Act to restrain the conduct of the game of Poker through online and offline avenues.The plea sought a restraining order against private companies pokerwale.com, Ninestacks Gaming LLP and Baazi Mobile, who were made respondents for promoting online as well as offline Poker by passing it off as a game of skill. .[Read order]