The Delhi High Court was informed by the Centre that online gambling was a State subject and the State governments have to make laws to regulate such activities.
“The legislative competence to determine whether a game is a game of skill or a game of chance or is involved in gambling [played with stakes or not] is conferred on the States only or to the court of laws [which possess the judicial wisdom],” the Centre said in an affidavit.
‘MeitY powerless’
It, additionally, said the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) “does not possess the judicial wisdom to determine whether an online game is involved in gambling or not”.
The Centre’s submission came in response to a petition filed by Avinash Mehrotra seeking directions to the authorities to take appropriate steps to ban or prohibit online gambling websites from operating in the country.
A Bench of Chief Justice D.N. Patel and Justice Jyoti Singh, which was hearing plea, observed that online gambling is dangerous and websites earning cannot be at the cost of youngsters. The court posted the case for further hearing on October 11.
The plea claimed that despite there being laws enacted by various States prohibiting such activities, a large number of websites providing gambling, betting and wagering games are still accessible in India. The plea contended that “all these activities, though expressly prohibited by law, are being carried out because of a lack of enforcement of the laws in question”.
The Centre, however, pointed out that the petition has not chosen to make any of the States — Sikkim, Nagaland, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, or Tamil Nadu — which have brought out legislations that specifically regulate online gaming, a party in the case.
Conflict of powers
“The MeitY cannot be expected to traverse law or legislative mandate and perform the action of blocking online gambling websites,” the Centre said adding,”Further, any such action expected to be taken by it of regulating online gambling/gaming websites will result in a conflict of powers vis-a-vis with the ‘appropriate government’ which is the State government”.
The petition claimed that the online gambling system in India is unregulated and it is “a great place for carrying out hawala operations, laundering money, etc”.
“In fact, it is submitted that Foreign Exchange laws, as well as Income Tax laws, are also likely being violated today by the online gambling websites,” the petition alleged.
