Having the Indian Premiere League (IPL) around a social activist in Bihar’s Muzaffarpur filed a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) in a district court against former Indian cricket captain and BCCI president Saurav Ganguly, cricketers Rohit Sharma, Hardik Pandya, actor Aamir Khan and others, accusing them of encouraging gambling.
There have been advertisements of these ace players and celebrities asking people to make teams and bet for online gaming. Amid this a social activist identified as Tammanah Hashmi moved a PIL in the Chief Judicial Magistrate’s court.
According to Hashmi, these personalities are playing with the present and future of young people by enticing them into gambling. The petitioner has argued that such activities can have a significant impact on the lives of young people, leading to serious financial and social consequences.
He said, “They are misleading the youths of the country and forcing them to get involved in gambling. They are luring them with attractive prizes but it can also make a youth become addicted to gambling,”
“The cricket and film icons are promoting various gaming shows and encouraging people to make teams of the Indian Premier League (IPL). Some of them have won the prizes but it also has consequences of people becoming an addicted to gambling as well,” he said.
The next hearing, in this case, will be on April 22.
Notably, this is not the first time a PIL or an appleal has been moved in front of the court demanding action against online gaming and gambling.
A similar PIL was moved to a court in Rajasthan in October 2020 against Dream 11 team. However, the Rajasthan High Court rejected the PIL.
In August 2020, a PIL was moved at the Madrass High Court seeking a direction to shut down online gaming sites and to arrest and prosecute promoters and their brand ambassadors mentioning Virat Kohli and Tamannah.
the petition was filed following the death of a youngster in Chennai who died by suicide. The suicide note mentioned that he was addicted to gambling and that he lost his savings and additional money he got from his employer on an online gambling app.
In September 2022, a PIL was moved to Madhya Pradesh High Court demanding a ban on online gaming apps and their promotions by Bollywood actor Shah Rukh Khan and cricketers M S Dhoni, Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma.
However, that PIL was rejected.
There are a number of such PILs at different courts in the country but the number of such advertisements is rising in leaps and bounds and these PILs look futile in front of those associated with the advertisements. They are all big names including players and actors.
Citing the serious threat that these games might have, in 2020, the Taminaldau government banned rummy and poker “to protect the youth”. The next they did was bring a bill to ban online gambling in the state. In August 2021, the Madras High Court brought the Tamil Nadu Gaming and Police Laws (Amendment) Act of 2021, which bans the playing of online betting games like rummy and poker with stakes.
The bill which was waiting to get the Governor’s assent finally gets enacted in Tamilnadu, today (April 12). Pending for several months, the law was published in the Government Gazette, following the assent from Governor RN Ravi.
As per the law, “ Any person indulging in online gambling/online games of chance with money or other stakes shall be punished with imprisonment for a term which may extend to three months or with a fine up to Rs 5,000 or both.”
The law also takes the advertisement agencies in their purview, as one of the subsections reads, “Those violating the provision on advertisement for promotion or inducing people to play online gambling/games of chance will face punishment with imprisonment up to one year or with a fine which may extend to Rs 5 lakh or both.”
A panel has also been set to regulate online gaming in the state.
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