Karnataka High Court reserves orders in challenge to Online Gaming Ban

The Karnataka High Court on Wednesday reserved orders in a batch of petitions challenging the Karnataka Police (Amendment) Act, 2021, which prohibits and criminalises betting on and playing games of skill, including online games (All India Gaming Federation v. State of Karnataka)..A Division Bench of Chief Justice Ritu Raj Awasthi and Justice Sachin Shankar Magadum heard the case at length over the past several weeks and reserved orders today..Senior Advocate Mukul Rohatgi argued for one of the petitioners, a federation that made a game of cricket involving the creation of a Dream Team and earning rewards based on the selected players’ real life performances.The Senior Counsel emphasised that even though this was a game of skill, since money was involved, the State government sought to impose a ban on the same. However, it was submitted that not only was the game one of skill, it did not amount to betting, wagering or gambling..The petitioner’s contention was that the games promoted by the federation had already been the subject matter of judicial pronouncements by the Punjab & Haryana, Bombay and Rajasthan High Courts.“The State of Karnataka is saying, ignore all these judgments. The moment you put in money it becomes a pernicious activity. But what they are saying is contrary to all the judgments,” Rohatgi argued..Advocate General Prabhuling K Navadgi on the other hand contended that the petition had no cause of action had arisen as no steps were taken against the petitioners. In absence of any proceedings against them, such a petition could not lie..Navadgi argued that the game did not require great skill and was in fact, predominantly a game of chance.“You are placing money over performance of players over which you have no role or control whatsoever. Once you establish this, how is it a game of skill?” he asked..After hearing both sides, the Court reserved its order while allowing written submissions to be placed before it..[Online gaming ban] State cannot legislate on game of skill: Lawyers to Karnataka High Court