Today, the Kerala high court quashed an amendment to a notification issued by the government of Kerala under Section 14A of the Kerala Gaming Act, 1960, which sought to ban online rummy in that state.
A Single judge Justice TR Ravi allowed a batch of petitions that had challenged the state government’s ban on online rummy.
The Court noted that the notification was arbitrary and violative of the right to trade and commerce guaranteed under Article 19(1)(g) of the Constitution and the right to equality guaranteed under Article 14 of the Constitution.
The Petitioners (gaming companies) argued that the Supreme Court and various high courts had already declared online rummy as a game of skill, which is legal in India.
It was also argued that the power under Section 14A of the Kerala Gaming Act, 1960 is limited to specifying what is a game of sufficient skill to warrant the exemption from gambling regulations.
Reliance was made by the Petitioner on the judgments of the Supreme Court in State of Andhra Pradesh v K Satyanarayana and Ors and KR Lakshmanan v. State of Tamil Nadu and Ors. where it was held that rummy is primarily a game of skill.
On the other hand, the state had argued that playing online rummy for money led to social problems, including suicides and loss of savings. The State argued that the Kerala high court, in a separate case in 2019, had ruled that rummy played for money amounts to gambling.
The State government informed the Court that a review petition filed by three online rummy companies against the order was also rejected by an order of the division bench of the High Court.
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It is pertinent to note that the State issued a notification on February 23, 2021, clarifying that when played for stakes, online rummy does not enjoy exemption from the general prohibition of gaming and gambling granted under Section 14A of the Kerala Gaming Act, 1960.
The four gaming companies include Junglee Games India Pvt. Ltd, Play Games 24×7 Pvt. Ltd, Head Digital Works Pvt. Ltd, and Gameskraft Technologies Pvt. Ltd had approached the High Court challenging the impugned notification.
Senior Advocates Mukul Rohatgi and Joseph Markos and Advocates Santhosh Mathew and Thomas Kuruvilla appearing on behalf of four online rummy companies. Advocate N. Manoj Kumar appeared for the state government.