TMI Blog2023 (11) TMI 672X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... truck down in its entirety by this Court and was declared as ultra vires the Constitution of India under the detailed judgment dated 03.08.2021 in the case of Junglee Games [ 2021 (8) TMI 1377 - MADRAS HIGH COURT ]. The intention and object of promulgating the impugned legislation, no doubt, appears to be laudable and bonafide. However, mere intention and bonafides would not be sufficient to uphold the legislation. The legislation has to withstand the test of legislative competence and should be free from manifest arbitrariness. The same will also have to be viewed on the premise of the rights of the parties being trampled or otherwise - The State is empowered to legislate in respect of the Entries in List II of the VII Schedule. Entry 34 of the State List includes betting and gambling . The State certainly has the authority to legislate in respect of betting and gambling. This Entry 34 of the State List viz , betting and gambling was the subject matter of consideration before the Apex Court in catena of cases. In the present case, the platform provider or the game provider is charging a fixed sum and is not claiming shares in the profits. If the game providers have been claiming s ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... he impugned Act shall be read as restricted to games of chance and not games involving skill, viz ., rummy and poker. Petition allowed in part. - Hon'ble Mr.Sanjay V.Gangapurwala, Chief Justice And The Hon'ble Mr.Justice P.D.Audikesavalu For the Petitioner in W.P.No.13203 of 2023 : Mr.Sajan Poovaiya, Senior Counsel; Mr.V.Ragavachari, Senior Counsel; Ms.Deepika Mulari, Mr.Pradeep Nayak, Mr.Samkeeth Vittal, Mr.Pratiks Bhadri Narayan S, Ms.Shreya Narayanan For the Petitioners in W.P.No.13593 of 2023 : Dr.Abhishek Manu Singhvi, Senior Counsel assisted by Mr.Suhaan Mukherji Mr.Harsh Hiroo Gursahani Mr.Nikhil Parikshith Mr.Abhishek Manchanda Mr.Sayandeep Pahari Mr.Arun Karthik Mohan Ms.Ashwini Vaidialingam, Mr.L.Nidhiram Sharma For the Petitioners in W.P.No.13720 of 2023 : Mr.C.Manishankar, Senior Counsel for Mr.R.S.Diwaagar For the Petitioners in W.P.No.13722 of 2023 : Mr.Satish Parasaran, Senior Counsel for Mr.R.S.Diwaagar For the Petitioners in W.P.No.14704 of 2023 : Mr.Mukul Rohatgi, Senior Counsel for Mr.R.S.Diwagar, Mr.Akhil Anand, Mr.Himanshu Vij, Mr.Bharadwaj Ramasubramanian, Mr.Durga Bose Gandham For the the 1st Respondent in W.P.Nos.13203, 13720, 13722 14704 of 2023 : ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ezy and Playship , which comprises of money based and free variants of the game rummy. 6. The first petitioner in W.P.No.13722 of 2023 claims to be a Company registered under the Companies Act, 2013 and engaged in the business of developing and offering online games of skill in India. The petitioner contends that it is involved in the business of designing, developing software related to games of skill, deploying and maintaining an online gaming website and mobile applications based on games of skill for the Indian market via the internet. 7. The first petitioner Company in W.P.No.13720 of 2023 is a private limited Company providing online web and mobile based platforms and offering competitive games of rummy in three popular formats of tournaments, points rummy and pool rummy. 8.1. Dr.Abhishek Manu Singhvi, learned Senior Counsel for the petitioners in W.P.No.13593 of 2023; Mr.Mukul Rohatgi, learned Senior Counsel for the petitioners in W.P.No.14704 of 2023; Mr.Sajan Poovaiya and Mr.V.Ragavachari, learned Senior Counsel for the petitioner in W.P.No.13203 of 2023; Mr.C.Manishankar, learned Senior Counsel for the petitioners in W.P.No.13720 of 2023; Mr.Satish Parasaran, learned Seni ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... bifurcates playing online rummy into two activities, playing and betting . The same is without any logical reasoning and is completely contrary to the rulings of the Apex Court, this Court and the other High Courts. 8.5. The Committee has not appreciated the functioning of online rummy, especially the limited role of the Random Number Generator (RNG) Software. The report further incorrectly alleges that the game can be manipulated by the use of bots (short for Robots), however, failed to consider that no bots are employed. The report erroneously distinguishes and concludes that there is a vast difference between rummy and poker when played physically and online. The said report further erroneously suggests that online gaming portals utilize digital currency. However, it has been clarified that the petitioners do not accept any digital currency on its platform. Money is accepted only through legally recognized banking channels like net banking, debit cards, wallets, UPIs etc. 8.6. The said report refers to the 246th Law Commission Report, but conveniently ignores Section 3 of the Law Commission Report, wherein it has been held that the games of skill are not gambling activity. The ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... e to enact the impugned Act. Legislature under Entry 34, List II (State List) of Schedule VII of the Constitution of India can legislate on betting and gambling . This Entry includes only games of chance and not games of skill. Any game, wherein there is predominance of skill over chance, would fall outside the ambit of betting and gambling and cannot be legislated upon by the respondent State. 8.12. The competitions which involve substantial skill are not gambling activities. Reliance is placed on a judgment of the Apex Court in the case of K.R. Lakshmanan v. State of Tamil Nadu (1996) 2 SCC 226 , wherein after analysing the earlier Constitutional Bench judgments in The State of Bombay v. R.M.D. Chamarbaugwala AIR 1957 SC 699 , and R.M.D. Chamarbaugwala v. Union of India AIR 1957 SC 628 , it was observed that gaming means the act or practice of gambling on a game of chance, where chance is the controlling factor. Reliance is also placed on the judgment of the Karnataka High Court in the case of All India Gaming Federation v. State of Karnataka 2022 SCC OnLine Kar 435 . 8.13. Reliance by the State on the judgment of the Apex Court in the case of M.J.Sivani Ors. vs. State of Karnata ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... der that other card games, including rummy and bridge, also include initial distribution of cards and are held to be games of skill by the Apex Court in the case of K.Satyanarayana (supra) . The Gujarat High Court relied upon the judgment in the case of R vs. Kelly from the Courts of Appeal in the United Kingdom and the same is of no avail, as it was based on the law fully applicable to the United Kingdom and they do not follow the predominance test. More over, whether online poker is permissible or not falls within the jurisdiction of the Self Regulatory Body, notified by the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology. 8.17. It is the further submission that games of skill do not cease to be one even when played with stakes. The Kerala High Court in the case of Head Digital Networks Pvt. Ltd. vs. State of Kerala 2021 SCC OnLine Ker 3592 has held that playing games of skill for stakes does not amount to gambling. There is no concept of an independent category of betting on games of skill. All betting , sought to be got in the ambit of betting and gambling , is betting on games of chance. Reliance is placed on the judgment of the Apex Court in the case of Dr.K.R.Lakshmanan ( ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... g cannot be the basis of holding that the State can legislate on it based on public health. 8.23. The impugned Act is against the Constitution of India. The State has enacted the impugned Act to override the findings of this Court in the case of Junglee Games ( supra ). The impugned Act creates a charade, that is to suggest prohibition of gambling and to regulate games of skill, but it actually bans games which are held to be games of skill by various Courts, including this Court. The State cannot even regulate online gaming of skill under the State List, as this sector is already regulated by the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology, being the nodal Ministry for regulation of games on the Indian internet. The impugned Act is not a validating Act. The judgment of this Court in the case of Junglee Rummy (supra) is binding on the State and no law under Entry 34 in the State List can be enacted to prohibit games of skill. 8.24. The State's reliance on the screenshots of the petitioners to suggest that the petitioners' incentives to the players is to gain profits is incorrect. Every business runs legitimate promotions and schemes to expand their business to ultima ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... renowned I.T Audit Agency (iTech Labs, Australia), certifying that there is no usage of bots in the game play. The said agency has been accepted by Governments of several Countries. The State of Tamil Nadu is at liberty to assess the same by using or deputing an independent Agency of repute of its choice. Online rummy or poker is played between two or more human beings only. 9. Mr.Kapil Sibal, learned Senior Counsel, Mr.R.Shunmugasundaram, learned Advocate General of the State of Tamil Nadu, Mr.Amit Anand Tiwari, learned Additional Advocate General of Tamil Nadu (Supreme Court) and Mr.P.Muthukumar, learned State Government Pleader canvassed their submissions on behalf of the State of Tamil Nadu (respondents). 9.1. The Preamble of the Act of 2022 establishes the societal concerns, which need to be addressed with reference to betting and gambling and its impact on the family and its societal impact. The Government of Tamil Nadu constituted a Committee, chaired by Justice K.Chandru (retd.). The Committee comprised five Members. The Committee incorporated experts from the fields of law, psychiatry and technology to understand the legal and social implications of online games. The alleg ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... al money games are online games where the earnings of the player are contingent on his performance, that is skill, with no reference to any game of chance or gambling. The I.T. Amendment Rules themselves provide that when an online gaming intermediary hosts any online games which violate the impugned Act, such conduct would be a breach of due diligence under the I.T. Amendment Rules. 9.6. Further, Section 15 of the impugned Act takes into account the issue of legislative competence with regard to internet communication. The enforcement of the prohibition and regulation on online gambling service providers is not abrogated by the State, instead, the enforcement mechanism consists of a provision enabling the Online Gaming Authority to make a recommendation to the State Government, which in turn would merely request the Central Government to exercise its powers under Section 69-A of the Information Technology Act, 2000 in respect of offending gambling service. In any event, under Article 246(3) of the Constitution of India, the Tamil Nadu Legislature has exclusive competence to make laws on the subjects mentioned in the State List. The matter of betting and gambling is enumerated in E ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... in the case of Lakshmanan (supra). 9.10. The observation of this Court in the case of Junglee Games (supra) that betting on a game of skill is itself an activity, in which success depends on the skill of the player, is not universally true. Even if the game may be one of skill, the success of the person betting would depend on how accurately the result of the game can be guessed by someone who is not playing it. Even in the former case, where the player and bettor are the same person, the player may lack data about his opponents. Thus, he would be staking money on what is, from his perspective, an uncertain event, hence, he would be betting . The correctness of the judgment in the case of Junglee Games (supra) is also under challenge before the Apex Court. 9.11. Online rummy cannot be described as a game of skill due to various reasons, as its dealer (software) knows all the unopened cards. 9.12. More over, the State's interest in reasonably restricting the same is weightier in view of the following aspects: (a) online games are available at all times of the day to be played by an unlimited number of players from anywhere in the world; (b) there is no social check of any sort o ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... tock exchanges, on which no futures are traded. 9.16. With respect to the game of poker, even when poker is played physically, the game has been held to be a game of chance by the Gujarat High Court in the case of Dominance Games (supra) . Thus, so far as online poker is concerned, even the support of the judgment of the Apex Court is not available to the petitioners. 9.17. The Doctrine of Proportionality cannot be converted into a form of Mandamus, wherein the Judiciary instructs the Legislature about the specific type of regulation that should be adopted, no matter the cost. The measures comparable to the impugned Act have withstood the test of Proportionality, since Courts worldwide have acknowledged the risk of social and economic hardship posed by online gambling. In Liga Portuguesa de Futebol Professional (Case C-42/07) , the Court of Justice for the European Union upheld Portugal's Legislation prohibiting operators which are established in other Member States, in which they lawfully provide similar services, from offering games of chance via the internet in Portugal. Similarly, the Supreme Court for the State of Washington in the United States in the case of Rousso vs St ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... the pattern in which the player exercises those options, which in the physical world is not to the knowledge of the club and players; (e) The cards in a club are distributed by players themselves in turns and in the sight of those who are present and playing the game. Such is not the case in online rummy. 9.20. The definition of online game under Section 2(k) of the impugned Act has unique qualities, which distinguish them from offline games. A physical card game involves a true element of chance on account of the factors such as, each player knows only his/her own cards and not other players' cards; no one, including the dealer, knows the unopened cards; no one, including the dealer, can touch the unopened cards or change the order; no one, including the dealer, knows which card is at which place. In the absence of such factors, the chance element in any card game cannot be described as a true element of chance . The predominance or otherwise of the skill element in an online game cannot be measured, because the chance element in an online game is not a true element of chance . A computer, at best, is able to generate only a pseudo-random outcome, which is never a truly random ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... disorder due to online gaming and gambling in mind while passing the impugned Act and that the provisions of the impugned Act have the effect of curbing the said threat. The impugned Act qualifies as a law on the subject of public order under Entry 1 in the State List and is intra vires the power conferred on the Tamil Nadu Legislature by Article 246(3) of the Constitution of India. 9.24. The State does not have to wait for the threat to public order to fully manifest into widespread public disorder before invoking its legislative power under Entry 1 in the State List. The petitioners have failed to distinguish between the scope of public order under Entry 1 in the State List vis-a-vis the phrase maintenance of public order , which appears in Entry 3 in the Concurrent List. The judgment relied on by the petitioners in the case of Ram Manohar Lohia (supra) relates to the interpretation of the phrase maintenance of public order , while the judgment in the case of Alijan Mian vs. District Magistrate (1983) 4 SCC 301 also discusses the same phrase. 9.25. Reliance is placed on the judgment of the Apex Court in the case of Kartar Singh vs. State of Punjab (1994) 3 SCC 569 . It is conten ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... an play online games and the number of hours for which an online gaming service can be made available to them. Such provisions can safeguard the mental health of the people of the State as an aspect of public health and are therefore intra vires the power of the Tamil Nadu Legislature under Article 246(2) of the Constitution of India read with Entry 6 in the State List. Any activity affecting the mental health of the general public can be regulated by the State in terms of Entry 6 in the State List. 9.29. The impugned Act does not violate any fundamental rights of the petitioners. The petitioners cannot claim fundamental rights guaranteed by Article 19(1)(g) of the Constitution of India solely on the basis of there being an aggregation of citizens (shareholders), that is to say, the right of the citizens composing the Body. Reliance is placed on the judgments of the Apex Court in the cases of Divl. Forest Officer vs Bishwanath Tea Co. Ltd. (1981) 3 SCC 238 and A.P.Dairy Development Corpn. Federation vs B.Narasimha Reddy (2011) 9 SCC 286 . As for the Shareholders and Directors in online gaming Companies, assuming that they are citizens of India, in such case, the petitioners lack lo ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... e activities can be prohibited and may warrant prosecution under criminal laws. The impugned Act seeks to do the very same. 9.32. It is further submitted that assuming without conceding that the petitioners are entitled to any fundamental rights under Article 19 of the Constitution, the impugned Act qualifies as a reasonable and proportionate restriction on the petitioners' activities under Article 19 of the Constitution of India. The impugned Act satisfies all four prongs of the test of proportionality outlined by the Apex Court in the case of Modern Dental College and Research Centre (2016) 7 SCC 353 . 9.33. Artificial Intelligence and bots are used in online games in several scenarios. Detecting the use of AI and AI-assisted bots as part of online gaming services is impossible by merely examining the functioning of the online game program itself. Thus, the regulation of online games for ensuring fair play and equal chance of betting poses challenges of a different nature and scope as compared to regulating offline games. It is on this basis that the Tamil Nadu Legislature, in its wisdom, has taken the most social and economic step of prohibiting online gambling services alto ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... vernor of Tamil Nadu over certain concerns regarding the similarity between the Bill and the Amendment Act of 2021, which was struck down by this Court. The Bill was re-enacted by the Legislative Assembly without any changes on 23.03.2023, which was assented by the Governor of Tamil Nadu on 07.04.2023. The Tamil Nadu Prohibition of Online Gambling and Regulation of Online Games Act, 2022 was published in the Tamil Nadu Government Gazette Extraordinary and the notification, bringing the impugned Act into force, was issued on 21.04.2023. 12.1. Section 2(i) of the impugned Act defines online gambling as online wagering or betting and includes playing of any online game of chance for money or other stakes in any manner. The said definition is further explained as wagering or betting shall be deemed to comprise the collection or soliciting of bets, the receipt or distribution of winnings or prizes, in money or otherwise, in respect of any wager or bet, or any act which is intended to aid or facilitate wagering or betting or such collection, soliciting, receipt or distribution. 12.2. Section 2(l) of the impugned Act defines online game of chance as hereunder: 2(l) online game of chance i ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... 22 empowers the Government, by notification, to omit or add any online game in the Schedule, on the recommendation of the Authority and upon issuance of such notification, the Schedule shall be deemed to be amended accordingly. 13. On the day the impugned Act was enacted, (i) rummy and (ii) poker were included in the Schedule of the impugned Act as online games of chance. The same is the bone of contention in the present matter. 14. It is true that whenever there is a challenge to the constitutional validity of an Act enacted by the Legislature or provisions thereto, one has to keep in mind that presumption is in favour of constitutional validity of law enacted by the Legislature and the petitioners will have to demonstrate transgression of the constitutional provisions and the mandate. It is well settled that the legislative enactment can be challenged on two grounds: (i) That the Legislature does not possess the competence to make the said law; (ii)The same is arbitrary, irrational and that it takes away or abridges any of the Fundamental Rights enumerated in Part III of the Constitution of India or any other constitutional provisions. It is on the touchstone of the aforesaid pri ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... like the three-card game mentioned in the Madras case. The three-card game which goes under different names such as flush , brag etc. is a game of pure chance. Rummy on the other hand requires certain amount of skill because the fall of the cards has to be memorised and the building up of rummy requires considerable skill in holding and discarding cards. We cannot, therefore, say that the game of rummy is a game of entire chance. It is mainly and preponderantly a game of skill . 17.5. The Apex Court in the case of K.R. Lakshmanan v. State of Tamil Nadu (supra), has elaborately dealt with the concept of gaming. The Apex Court in the said case had observed that gaming is an act or practice of gambling on a game of chance. It is the game of chance, where chance is the controlling factor. Gambling would mean wagering or betting on games of chance. It would not include games of skill. It further held that the games of skill, although the element of chance necessarily cannot be entirely eliminated, is one in which success depends principally upon the superior knowledge, training, attention, experience and adroitness of the player. Golf, chess and even rummy are considered to be games of ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... s, except horse racing, are illegal. However, this Act only deals with physical betting. The law is silent on online betting. The Act of 1867 is still in existence after independence, as it was enforced under Article 372 of the Constitution of India. The Constitution of India gives power to the State to regulate gambling as it falls under List II Entry 34 of the VII Schedule of the Constitution of India. However, if the State fails to regulate, the Act of 1867 will continue to govern. Few States have made certain amendments to the Act of 1867 according to the requirement of the State. Gambling is generally prohibited in all States except Sikkim, Goa and Daman. 18.2. According to Section 12 of the Act of 1867, any game in which skill is the dominant factor, it will not be considered gambling, while games of chance would be considered as gambling. The Apex Court and High Courts in various decisions have given interpretation of games of chance and games of skill. 19. Wagering, gambling and betting have often been confused to be synonymous. This Court, in the case of Public Prosecutor v. Veraj Lal Sheth AIR 1945 Mad 164 , explained the distinction as follows: The principal distinction ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... for Online Rummy Operators , issued by the E-Gaming Federation. According to them, the following are the measures adopted by the petitioners on their platforms: i. The players deposits are encrypted with 128- bit SSL; ii. No information about the cards, which are dealt, are shared with any party and only a player has information about the cards dealt to him or her; iii. Information related to users are stored in a secure environment and is not shared with any third-party, except for the purpose of provision of services by the Platform. The Company enters into Non-Disclosure Agreement with all such third parties; iv. The Petitioner has a dedicated customer support team ensuring prompt response to customer issues, if found and reported. Games are monitored on a regular basis to detect any violation of the terms of the Portal by players; v. Allocation of tables is random, and no table is prefixed for any game. Players, therefore, have no control over selection of players on any table; vi. Players logged in from the same IP address are not allocated seats on the same table; vii. Information about the playing cards is always encrypted, thereby preventing any third party from viewing the ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... re could change the unopened cards. In the absence thereof, it will be too far fetched only on the basis of the assumptions by the State to conclude that the game of rummy, played online, partakes the character of game of chance and is distinctly different than the one played offline. 24. We are now transcending into the era of digitization world and entertainment. People, instead of playing in clubs, are now playing online. With the rise of internet connectivity and technological advancements, we see a spurt in online games. Many online games are in vogue. The games of rummy and poker, which are considered as games of skill are also now sought to be played online. In online games of rummy and poker also, the same brain activity would be involved as required for offline games of rummy and poker. Online fantasy games are now held to be games of skill and not games of chance by the High Court of Punjab and Haryana in the case of Varun Gumber vs. Union Territory of Chandigarh Ors 2017 Cri LJ 3827 . The High Court of Rajasthan, in the case of Chandresh Sankhla vs. State of Rajasthan 2020 SCC OnLine Raj 264 observed that in Dream 11, there is no element of betting or gambling as it is a ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... nformation and Communications Technology, an individual who is or has been a Member or Officer of an Organisation dealing with the protection of Child Rights and so on. 26.5. Under Rule 4A(8) of the IT Amendment Rules, 2023, the Online Gaming Self-regulatory Body shall prominently publish on its website, mobile based application or both, as the case may be, a framework for verifying an online real money game, which among other things, includes (a) the measures to ensure that such online real money game is not against the interests of sovereignty and integrity of India, security of the State, friendly relations with foreign States and public order; (b) the safeguards against user harm, including self-harm and psychological harm; (c) the measures to safeguard children, including measures for parental or access control and classifying online games through age-relating mechanism, based on the nature and type of content; and (d) the measures to safeguard users against the risk of gaming addiction, financial loss and financial fraud, including repeated warning messages at higher frequency beyond a reasonable duration for a gaming session and provision to enable a user to exclude himself ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... teachers stated that they noticed decrease in Intelligent Quotient, writing skills and creativity of students, more than 77% said they noticed increase of anger in students and more than 72% said they have noticed indiscipline among students. 32. It is to be considered that the online games, in the instant case, are not available for persons/children below the age of 18 years. Online games can be played only by the persons who are 18 years and above i.e., major and not School children. The apprehension raised by the learned Senior Counsel for the State was that there would be no methodology to verify the age of the person playing. The petitioners responded to it by suggesting that a person, before he enrols to play, is required to submit his Aadhaar Card, photograph, KYC and other precautionary measures are taken to confirm that the person playing is 18 years old or more. 33. Another apprehension of the respondent was that the games are played 24 hours, thereby endangering the public and domestic health. As observed above, the concern expressed by the State about public health of its citizens is but natural. The State has to take care of the public health of its citizens. Section ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... s. In the said case, the Apex Court held that certain video games are falling within the class of games of chance and not in the games of skill. The said conclusion was arrived at after considering the report of the Committee of Senior Police Officials, demonstrating about tampering of the video game machines and thereby, were brought within the purview of games of chance. However, in the said case, law existed regulating gaming activity and the same was violated. In the present case, as observed supra , the respondent State could not even remotely demonstrate tampering of software or any such device that would take away the games of rummy or poker from the contour of games of skill. Moreover, the three Judges Bench of the Apex Court in the case of Dr . K.R.Lakshmanan (supra) held rummy to be a game of skill. 37. Another apprehension raised by the State is of public order. Public order in the State List would imply activities that would jeopardize and affect public at large. The Apex Court in the case of Ram Manohar Lohia (supra) observed that Every breach of the peace does not lead to public disorder. When two drunkards quarrel and fight there is disorder but not public disorder. ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ed Act, thereby providing reasonable regulations for the time limit, age restriction or such other restrictions in regard to playing of online games. 38.4. Section 10 of the impugned Act may not be declared as ultra vires as it will be necessary for the State to know about the online games providers operating within its State and that they are not indulging in any games of chance. If the State comes across the usage of bots or any dubious methods in the play of games of rummy and poker, it can take action and for that purpose also it will be necessary to uphold Section 10 of the impugned Act. The State may frame regulations as contemplated under Section 5 of the impugned Act. 39. In the light of the aforesaid, the writ petitions, as such, stand partly allowed. The prayer to declare the entire impugned Act of 2022 as ultra vires is negated. The Schedule of the impugned Act, including the games of rummy and poker, are set aside. Sections 2(i) and 2(l)(iv) of the impugned Act shall be read as restricted to games of chance and not games involving skill, viz ., rummy and poker. There will be no order as to costs. Consequently, W.M.P.Nos.12944, 13271, 13272, 13398, 13399, 13400, 13403, 1 ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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