A plea moved by Junglee Games India Private Ltd came for hearing to the division bench comprising Justice R Subbaiah and Justice C Saravanan, who refused an interim stay as sought for and instead posted the plea for further hearing to December 21 and directed the State to file its response by then. Senior Advocate PS Raman, appearing for Junglee, submitted that the company has been running online rummy across the country for over a decade and when it is considered legitimate in other parts of the country, it cannot be banned as illegitimate in Tamil Nadu.
Pointing out that Andhra Pradesh and Kerala had also banned it, Raman said: “Since 1968, the Supreme Court (SC) has made it clear that rummy is a game of skill and not a game of chances and hence cannot be banned as gaming/gambling.” Senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi said when the same rummy can be played physically in clubs the same cannot be banned online, gave contended statement. He also submitted that rummy cannot be equated to three cards.
Advocate General Vijay Narayan, appearing for the Tamil Nadu government, submitted that besides teenagers, those in the age group of 25 to 30 are losing their entire earnings by playing such online betting games. Rummy might be a game of skill but when it is played for stakes it becomes gambling, Senior Advocate AL Somayaji appearing for the State argued.
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