Madhya Pradesh Govt to HC: Three Months Needed for Online Gaming Law
07 Dec 2022
A Committee of Senior Secretaries is Drafting Legislation
The Government of Madhya Pradesh has submitted to the High Court of MP at Jabalpur that the Committee of Senior Secretaries of the State. Which is looking into the matter of online gambling. Has asked for three months to draft the necessary legislation and to get legislative assembly clearance on it.
The Central Government, through its counsel, stated that Schedule 7 of the Constitution of the Union lists online gambling as a State subject, and therefore it is the State’s responsibility to legislate over it.
In July, the Union and the State governments were ordered by the Madhya Pradesh High Court to examine the issue of online gambling, especially when endorsed by a celebrity, and to propose remedial actions.
The developments were part of a case instigated on a bail application by a 26-year-old who had been in custody since December 2021 for illegally withdrawing ₹8,51,000 from the pension account of his maternal grandfather and spending it on playing IPL “online Satta.”
Madya Pradesh Online Gaming Law | MP High Court Asks for Wider Consideration of Online Gambling
On July 16, the High Court of Madhya Pradesh granted bail to the applicant. The court required the applicant to deposit 50 percent of the amount 15 days before the trial. Additionally, the court took note of online gambling on its own motion. It requested a wider consideration of the issue.
“Applicant is a youth of 26 years,” the single bench of Justice Vivek Agarwal observed. The court noted the need to examine the legality of online gaming schemes. It mentioned the legality of programs sponsored by star players and actors that attract youth.
With this reasoning, the High Court ordered the Central and State governments to investigate these schemes. The court wanted to know whether they comply with legal provisions in the country. It aimed to determine if there is a need to check such schemes to protect the youth from unlawful activities.
The next case hearing has been listed for March 13, 2023.
Besides the MP Lottery Pratibandh Act, 1993, Madhya Pradesh has not adopted any other gaming legislation and is governed by the Public Gambling Act, 1867.
