GAMBLING IN INDIA: THE JOURNEY AHEAD1

“Gambling is a principle inherent in human nature.” - Edmund Burke

Indian History Behind Gambling

Gambling in ancient India was always regarded as a social activity for amusement whether it
be in celebrating special occasions or daily lives. Remains of dice and gambling boards were
traced at Harappan excavations proving its existence since 1000 BC2. Even the Rig Veda
contains a hymn called „Gambler‘s Lament‟ showing its popularity during the early Indo-
Aryan society3. In fact each side of a four sided dice was named after the four yugas of the
world as per the Hindu mythology. The famous episode in Mahabharata where the royal king
Yuddhirstha lost his kingdom including his brothers and wife in a dice game showed the
compulsive gambling behaviour. In Manusmriti, Verse 221, Gambling has been strictly
forbidden in entirety for its potential to destroy a Kingdom.4 It also provided for punishment
for anyone who either plays or provides an opportunity for it. 5 Punishment could either

1
Varun Srinivasan is a Senior Associate with the law firm, NVS & Associates, Advocates & Legal Consultants,
headquartered at Chennai, wherein he handles complex legal issues dealing with Banking, IT, Arbitration, IPR
and other Corporate laws for domestic & international clientele in Courts pan-India. He was a former Law Clerk
at the Supreme Court India, for a period of two years under Hon‟ble Mr. Justice FMI Kalifulla. He is the Co-
Revising Editor of the premier and well-known commentary, Tannan‟s Banking Law & Practice in India, for the
25th Edition 2014 (3 Vols.) published by Lexis Nexis and is also a Consultant for the Maharashtra National Law
University. He was selected as one of the Business Delegates by the Indo Australian Chamber of Commerce
(IACC) to Australia in 2012, wherein he made presentations in Perth, Melbourne & Sydney, on the Indian Legal
System to a large corporate audience, highlighting the legal issues and opportunities for investment in India. He
has also travelled to Singapore and Malaysia to handle intricate legal disputes. He has made presentations on
international commercial arbitration in Vienna. Varun has also contributed articles on diverse issues of law for
journals. He can be contacted at varunsrinivasan.v@gmail.com
Amrita is a law graduate from NUJS (2013) and is currently practicing as an Advocate at the High Court of
Bombay. She was a former Law Clerk cum Research Assistant at the Supreme Court of India. She can be
contacted at sarkaramrita14@gmail.com
2
Jan McMillen, Understanding Gambling- History, Concept and Theories,
http://books.google.co.in/books?id=iekF9X3OwwMC&pg=PA34&dq=gambling+history+in+india&hl=en&sa=
X&ei=PwlOVInHCJPf8AXTtIFI&ved=0CCEQ6AEwAQ#v=onepage&q=gambling%20history%20in%20india
&f=false
3
A Brief History of India, Judith E. Walsh, available at
http://books.google.co.in/books?id=iekF9X3OwwMC&pg=PA34&dq=gambling+history+in+india&hl=en&sa=
X&ei=PwlOVInHCJPf8AXTtIFI&ved=0CCEQ6AEwAQ#v=onepage&q=gambling%20history%20in%20india
&f=false
4
Mandagadde Rama Jois, Legal and Constitutional History of India: Ancient legal, judicial, and Constitutional
System, available at
http://books.google.co.in/books?id=V552bAz5xFAC&pg=PA219&lpg=PA219&dq=constitutional+provisions+
for+gambling+india&source=bl&ots=G5kwdZupr_&sig=OxxQKV6Dr7VQsDIvNEatiDHONQo&hl=en&sa=X
&ei=BRxOVIAGozn8AWfGw&ved=0CCMQ6AEwATgK#v=onepage&q=constitutional%20provisions%20for
%20gambling%20india&f=false
5
Supra 4

Electronic copy available at: http://ssrn.com/abstract=2680149

extend to getting banished from the kingdom or corporal subjugation.6 Though Manu advised
complete ban on gambling, a different strategy was suggested by Kautilya who advocated
State control of gambling because of the revenue that the King could earn from it. In fact,
even though from ancient time, gambling was regarded as the destroyer of truth, honesty and
wealth, it somehow could not be completely flushed out from the society.

With the efflux of time and the development of the legal system, the gambling laws in India
have also taken its own course. Initially during the British rule, Section 290 of Indian Penal
Code of 1860 was the only provision under the criminal law, which could prohibit any
gambling activity, provided it was affecting and upsetting the public interest. These vague
parameters of controlling gambling led to the passing of the Public Gambling Act in the year
1867. The initial purpose of this Act was to repress public gambling in large towns situated in
the territories respectively under their governments, without giving rise to oppression and
other malpractices on the part of the police.7

In short, the objectives8 of the Act are as follows:

i. To prevent gambling either in a public place or thoroughfare or in a common gaming
house, and
ii. To prevent the keeping of common gaming houses.

Under the following statute, gambling would become an offence only when it is played for a
private gain in a „common gaming house‟ or for the gain of the gambling house keeper. The
Supreme Court with lot of precision has dealt with the issue of games which are distinguished
on the basis of skill from chance. Games of chance have been strictly prohibited by law and it
is the game of skill which are allowed to continue.9 In the present paper, the authors have
tried to draw a framework of the current position of law which governs the gambling sector
of the country. Being under List II under the 7th schedule of our Constitution,10 it clearly
gives the autonomy to the states to decide upon its legal status as to whether there should be a
complete prohibition or regulation of the same. Lately, Gambling like any other activity has

6
Supra 4
7
A.P. Mathur, Commentaries on Gambling Acts in India, Eastern Book Company Law Publishers &
Booksellers, pg. 1, Delhi, 1967
8
Supra 7
9
In fact Section 12 of the Public Gambling Act, 1867 which has been followed by various State enactments
have excluded games of skills from the ambit of gambling. The Section is reproduced hereunder:
“Act not to apply to certain games.—Nothing in the foregoing provisions of this Act contained shall be held to
apply to any game of mere skill wherever played.”
10
Entry 34 & 62

Electronic copy available at: http://ssrn.com/abstract=2680149

transcended the physical boundary of territories and participants from various jurisdictions.
The legality of online gambling is depended on the Information Technology Act, 2000 and
the Information Technology (Intermediary) Rules, 2011 which vaguely discusses the liability
of the intermediaries and the activities which could morally deprave the minds of the users.
The discussion on cases would show the various tests which have been evolved to put
restrictions on certain games i.e., game of chance and how a game can be determined to be a
game of skill or luck. Having a specific law regarding either prohibition or regulation of
online games would clarify the doubts in this domain. The paper thereby highlights the
loopholes when gambling enters virtual realm and how complete prohibition as an idea is a
farce. The authors would make an attempt to give certain suggestions to regulate gambling
and betting11 in India. The conclusion therefore, focuses on the suggestions which are put
forward to analyse the current scenario and assist the legislature to shape the laws
accordingly.

Overview of the Law of Gambling In India

Over the years the concept of gambling has been subject to numerous onslaughts and
scrutiny, questioning its legality and as to what extent it can be termed as permissible. Indian
courts and legislations have always considered gambling to be a pernicious and immoral
activity. They have consistently been held by courts to have a negative impact on the
economy as it affects the public interest at large by causing people to take ill-advised
decisions and end up losing their precious savings in the process. Therefore, both the
judiciary and the legislature have always discouraged the public from humouring in games of
chance and probability. But before we arrive at any conclusion, it would be appropriate to
examine the respective laws and extrapolate their criteria.

As has been mentioned above, the Public Gambling Act of 1867 was one of the primary
legislative enactments introduced during the British era with an intention to prohibit
gambling activities in India. This Central legislation, which dates back to 146 years, defines
common gaming houses and declares the activity of gambling to be illegal when it is being
done as a business to earn profits. It also makes operating a gambling house, assisting in the
operation of a gambling house, visiting a gambling house (whether participating in the
activity of gambling or not), financing gambling and being in possession of gambling

11
Betting is a form of gambling and is a word coined to validate the activity of gambling. It is generally legal
while done on games of skills.
devices- a crime. The penalty is a meagre fine not exceeding Rs. 200/- or up to three months
in prison. As of date though, there is no record of any person being officially charged or
sought after for betting. Reference to the Public Gambling Act explicitly states that „nothing
in this Act shall apply to games of mere skill wherever played.‘12 It can be implied from this
that, in absence of other laws against them, wagering on games of skill is legal. 13 We shall
deal with this issue in detail at a later stage in this article. Since this Act is a pre-
constitutional Act, it would only be appropriate if we elucidate and find out the constitutional
framework of gambling and as to who has the power to make these laws.

According to Entry No. 34 of List II of 7th schedule of the Constitution of India, „gambling‘
includes any activity or undertaking whose determination is controlled or influenced by
chance or accident and any activity or undertaking which is entered into or undertaken with
consciousness of the risk of winning or losing (e.g., prize competitions, a wagering
contract)… where there is no actual transfer of goods but only payment or receipt of the
difference according to the market price, which varies from the contract price.”

Therefore, according to the abovementioned Entry No. 34 of List II of the 7th Schedule of the
Indian Constitution, the legitimate authority and right is vested with the individual States to
make the appropriate laws with respect to gambling and betting. In fact, Entry No. 62 has
conferred authority to the States to tax gambling and betting events or activities. Recently, the
states of Goa and Sikkim have legitimized and regulated gambling and its forms, while
12
Supra 9
13
Section 30 of the Indian Contract, 1872 prevents any person from bringing a suit for recovery of any winnings
won by way of a „wager.‟ (An agreement which is based on a future uncertain event wherein the loss of one
person is the gain of the other). Thus no claim for recovery of any winnings in lotteries, gambling or betting can
be brought before the court. The position of law in India is such that it may be perfectly legal to buy a lottery
ticket, but the winner of such a lottery will have no remedy against the lottery agency if the said agency refuses
to pay the winnings. This same position was reiterated in Subash Kumar Manwani v. State of M.P. (AIR 200
MP 109). The Section states: ―Agreements by way of wager, void.—Agreements by way of wager are void; and
no suit shall be brought for recovering anything alleged to be won on any wager, or entrusted to any person to
abide the result of any game or other uncertain event on which any wager is made. tc "30. Agreements by way
of wager, void.—Agreements by way of wager are void; and no suit shall be brought for recovering anything
alleged to be won on any wager, or entrusted to any person to abide the result of any game or other uncertain
event on which any wager is made." Exception in favour of certain prizes for horse-racing.—This section shall
not be deemed to render unlawful a subscription or contribution, or agreement to subscribe or contribute, made
or entered into for or toward any plate, prize or sum of money, of the value or amount of five hundred rupees or
upwards, to be rewarded to the winner or winners of any horse-race. Etc. "Exception in favour of certain prizes
for horse-racing.—This section shall not be deemed to render unlawful a subscription or contribution, or
agreement to subscribe or contribute, made or entered into for or toward any plate, prize or sum of money, of
the value or amount of five hundred rupees or upwards, to be rewarded to the winner or winners of any horse-
race." Section 294A of the Indian Penal Code not affected.—Nothing in this section shall be deemed to legalize
any transaction connected with horse-racing, to which the provisions of section 294A of the Indian Penal Code
(45 of 1860) apply. etc. "Section 294A of the Indian Penal Code not affected.—Nothing in this section shall be
deemed to legalize any transaction connected with horse-racing, to which the provisions of section 294A of the
Indian Penal Code (45 of 1860) apply."
around 13 states have legalized lottery. Otherwise in general, the majority of the States have
categorized gambling as an illegal activity and therefore is punishable under law.

In fact, after the Constitution came into force post-independence, there were various states
which have enacted their own laws pertaining to gambling and betting. Various States have
adopted the Public Gambling Act vide Article 252 of the Constitution to their respective
territories, which empowers the parliament to legislate for two or more states by consent and
adoption of such legislation by other states. Therefore, the significance of the Public
Gambling Act still remains potent and relevant in certain states. At present though, by the
Adoption of Laws Order, 1950 the jurisdiction of the Public Gambling Act is now
limited to Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Delhi, Himachal Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh. 14 The Act
therefore, applied only to these states with amendments promulgated by the states.15

Skill v. Chance: A Judicial Perspective

Black‟s Law Dictionary defines gambling or gaming as „the act of risking something of value
for a chance to win a prize‘16, while a wager is defined as „money or other consideration
risked to an uncertain activity.‟17 Indian gaming statutes have also drafted a similar definition
of „common gaming house.‟ According to the Public Gambling Act, 1867 („Public Gambling
Act‟):18

“Common gaming-house means any house, walled enclosure, room or place in which cards,
dice, tables or other instruments of gaming are kept or used for the profit or gain of the
person owning, occupying, using or keeping such house, enclosure, room or place, whether
by way of charge for the use of the instruments of gaming, or of the house, enclosure, room
or place, or otherwise howsoever.”19

It is evident from the definitions above that for any activity to be considered as gambling, the
necessary and essential elements to constitute it would be mutual consideration, chance and

14
http://www.frontline.in/cover-story/corporate-push-to-make-betting-legal/article4799609.ece
15
Carl Rohsler, Regulating Sports Betting
16
Black‟s Law Dictionary 701 (2004).
17
Supra 17, Pg. 1610
18
The Public Gambling Act, 1867 is a Central legislation adopted by states such as Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand,
Madhya Pradesh, Haryana, Manipur and Punjab with minor variations. Most state gaming acts are, however,
modelled around this Act and the definition of “common gaming house” remains mostly uniform across India. It
is, however, important to note that the states of Assam and Orissa are exceptions to this proposition. Both the
Assam Game and Betting Act, 1970 and the Orissa Prevention of Gambling Act, 1955 have no exception for
game of skill. Any game played for stakes whether of skill or chance is punishable in these two states.
19
The Public Gambling Act, 1867, Section 1.
prize. To be charged for the offence of gambling, a person need not necessarily be an active
participant. In fact, the law goes so far as to make even visiting a place where gambling is
conducted as a crime. Therefore, if any individual owns, occupies or uses a place for
gambling, then the police have every authority to search the premises, seize any adverse
materials or gambling instruments and even arrest all occupants participating in such
gambling activities. The only respite for these individuals would be if the games played are of
skill and not of chance, then as per Section 12 of the Public Gambling Act, games of skills
are specifically excluded from criminal prosecution. Therefore, absence of any of the
abovementioned elements would exclude such games and acts from the ambit of gambling,
and thus would not be considered a crime.20 Going by this analysis, it can thereby be implied
that participating or indulging in games of skills, where luck or chance has little or no
relevance in determining a winner would be deemed to be permissible in law and not
punishable, as the individual relies on his own skill rather than leaving things to chance.
Therefore, at present, there is no statute which explicitly prohibits or punishes participating in
such games of skill.21

For a game to be categorised as gambling in India, it can be determined by examining as to

whether the game in concern is a game of skill or a game of chance. For arriving at this
though it is essential to determine certain aspects such as:

 What is a game of skill?

 Is it obligatory that there must not be any chance involved in the game?
 Does skill need to be primarily present in a game to deem it as a skill based game?
 Or is it enough if skill is predominant over chance?

To answer the above questions, for a game to be considered a game of skill under Indian law,
the position has been so far that no game needs to be a skill based game in entirety, but in
essence should predominantly be a skill based game, i.e., the element of skill should be more
dominant than the element of chance.

20
Supra 9
21
http://lawlex.org/lex-pedia/gambling-laws-in-india/8590
The relevant excerpt from the judgment of the Supreme Court of India in K.R. Lakshmanan
v. State of Tamil Nadu,22 is presented below to elucidate the judicial interpretation of this
concept:

“[T]here are few games, if any, which consist purely of chance or skill, and as such a game
of chance is one in which the element of chance predominates over the element of skill, and a
game of skill is one in which the element of skill predominates over the element of chance. It
is the dominant element – ―skill‖ or ―chance‖ – which determines the character of the
game.‖

While interpreting the term „skill‟ the court has stated its meaning as under;

―We, therefore, hold that the expression ‗mere skill‘ would mean substantial degree or
preponderance of skill.‖

Section 11 of the Tamil Nadu Gaming Act was the subject of consideration before the court.
The court while providing its interpretation arrived at the conclusion that games of „mere
skill‟ should be excluded as it is in pari materia with Section 12 of the Public Gambling Act
of 1867. Therefore, the court while expounding skill in terms of superior knowledge
experience, training and the like, also declared horse racing as a game of skill. In fact, the
Supreme Court in K.R. Lakshmanan (Supra), 23 further elucidated the concept of skill as
follows:

“A game of skill, on the other hand – 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.‖

The Supreme Court while rendering a decision in 1967 held the 13 card game of rummy as a
game of skill and permitted it to be played in clubs or places, provided there were no stakes
involved and profits or gains for the organizers. 24 The Court, while arriving at its conclusions
observed as follows:

“The game of Rummy is not a game entirely of chance like the ‗three-card‘ game mentioned
in the Madras case to which we were referred. The ‗three card‘ game which goes under
different names such as ‗flush‘, ‗brag‘ etc. is a game of pure chance. Rummy, on the other

22
AIR 1996 SC 1153
23
Supra 22
24
State of Andhra Pradesh v. K Satyanarayana, AIR 1968 SC 825.
hand, requires a 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.”

In fact, while interpreting whether certain games can be afforded protection under Article
19(1)(g) of the Constitution of India, i.e., freedom of trade and commerce, the Indian
judiciary have categorically distinguished between games of skill and chance. The Courts
have concluded that prize competitions (with a pre-determined ambiguous solution) and
competitions where the winner is determined by draw of lotteries, are of gambling nature and
therefore, cannot be afforded the similar protection of freedom of trade and commerce under
Article 19(1)(g), which games of skill may avail, as they are explicitly neither prohibited or
punishable in law .25

Incidentally, the Courts have not examined the meaning of „chance‟ in great detail. It is not
defined in any statute, and therefore, reliance must be placed on case laws to throw light on
its understanding and interpretation in Indian law. The significant decision which provided a
brief analysis on the term „chance‟ was in State of Andhra Pradesh v. Satyanarayana,26
where the Supreme Court critically evaluated it in the context of Rummy and other card
games as follows:

“The chance in Rummy is of the same character as the chance in a deal at a game of bridge.
In fact, in all games in which cards are shuffled and dealt out, there is an element of chance,
because the distribution of the cards is not according to any set pattern but is dependent upon
how the cards find their place in the shuffled pack. From this alone it cannot be said that
Rummy is a game of chance and there is no skill involved in it.‖

It can be noted from the abovementioned extract that the court has not gone in detail in
explaining the elements of chance in extenso. In fact, the Indian judiciary while analysing
whether a particular game is one of skill or chance, have time again not taken the efforts to
delve deep into cognitive studies or academic research and provide detailed explanations.

25
State of Bombay v. R.M.D. Chamarbaugwala, AIR 1957 SC 699. See also M.J. Sivani v. State of Karnataka,
(1995) 6 SCC 289: AIR 1995 SC 1770 (In the M.J. Sivani case, the Supreme Court confirmed the
Chamarbaugwala judgment to the extent that freedom of trade and commerce is available to games of skill. The
Supreme Court however clarified that reasonable restrictions or conditions may be imposed on video games
based on chance and the constitutional protection under Art. 19(1) (g) does not apply to owners of video game
parlours).
26
Supra 24
Occasion reference and reliance have been placed only to dictionaries and foreign judgements
to arrive at their conclusions. For instance, in K. R. Lakshmanan (Supra),27 the Court relied
on the explanation of horse racing under the definition of gambling in the Encyclopaedia
Britannica, which stated that betting on horse racing involves „the assessment of a
contestant‘s physical capacity and the use of other evaluative skills‘. The Court while
recording its reasons on the issue of horse racing, made reference to the American case of
People v. Monroe,28 and held that the winner”in”a”horse-race”is not determined by chance
alone, but by certain other factors such as the endurance, conditions and speed of the horse,
and the skill and management of the rider. Therefore, an understanding of the above stated
definitions, the Indian courts in a nutshell have held gambling in a nutshell as „the payment of
a price for a chance to win a prize.29

Prof. Nelson Rose, one of the world's leading experts on gambling and gambling laws in
adherence to the decisions of various US courts, has classified three basic elements of
gambling as: consideration, chance and prize.30 Absence of any of these three elements does
not constitute as gambling. 31 So for instance, if in a party, all the guests are given free
coupons or coins to play blackjack or roulette, it would not constitute as gambling as one of
the essential elements of consideration is missing. 32 Similarly, if the other elements are
missing in an activity then it should not be regarded as gambling. The Public Gambling Act,
1867 specifically exempts application of the Act to games of skill.33 Hence, games in which
only skill is present (such as chess, carom, etc.)34 and in cases where there is no existence of
chance or it is there in negligible proportion, then such games are not considered as

27
Supra 22
28
349 Ill. 270, 275
29
K.R. Lakshmanan v. State of Tamil Nadu., (1996) 2 SCC 226, para 3.
30
David Barber v. Jefferson County Racing Association Inc., Nos. 1050625 & 1050857, Supreme Court of
Alabama, 2006 citing Grimes v. State/ 235 Ala Lgz, L93: 178.50 73,74 {I}JA); See I. Nelson nose; "Gambling
and the Law: Is poker like chess: a game of skill?, 10-10-2008,<http
://rose.casinocitytímes,com/article/gambling-and-the-law-is-poker-like-chess-a- game-of-skill-43975>
31
Philip Kolvin (Eds.), Gambling for Local Authorities, Licensing, Planning and Regulation, pg.72-73, The
Institute of Licensing Publication, 2007
32
Freda Sabapathy, Gaming Laws -A Commentary, pg. 20, Sweet & Maxwell, Asia, 2005
33
Section 12, The Public Gambling Act, 1867
34
Manakadu Elalnge. R Nala sports v. State of Tamil Nadu, AIR 2005 Mad 214 ruling that carom and chess are
clearly games of skill and do not fall within the ambit of gambling in any way and directed the state authorities
not to interfere with such gaming activities carried on by any club. See Sabapathy see Freda Sabapathy, Gaming
Laws - A Commentary, Pg. 14, Sweet & Maxwell, Asia, 2005.
gambling. 35 However, what constitutes as game of skill and what constitutes as game of
chance has been a colossal debate.

Online Gambling

Gambling being an archaic concept and prohibited in India, as has been mentioned above, the
Constitution of India has specifically allotted the legislation making powers between the
Centre and States. The power to therefore, make rules and regulations regarding gambling
and gaming laws are conferred upon the States, which has thereby resulted in the passing of
diverse laws in their respective territories. In fact, some states have unequivocally barred
gambling in their jurisdiction whereas some have permitted the same.36 But with respect to
online gaming though, Indian laws are silent. At present, it is the Information Technology
Act, 2000 which controls the cyber activities in India. Though there is no mention of online
gaming, however, it mentions under Rule 2(b) of the Information Technology Intermediary
Rules, 201137 that intermediaries are required to observe due diligence and inform the users
to abstain from hosting, displaying, uploading, modifying, publishing, transmitting, updating
or sharing any information which:

―is grossly harmful, harassing, blasphemous defamatory, obscene, pornographic,

paedophilic, libellous, invasive of another's privacy, hateful, or racially, ethnically
objectionable, disparaging, relating or encouraging money laundering or gambling, or
otherwise unlawful in any manner whatever;‖

A plain interpretation of the language in the Information Technology Rules, 2011 suggests
that any cyber activity encouraging gambling online is prohibited. The intermediary has the

35
David Miers, Regulating Commercial Gambling (Oxford University Press, 2004) 19; -See State of AP. v. K.
Satyanaraya, AIR 1968 SC 825, determining that rummy is a game of skill and not of chance as it requires
certain specific skills which outweighs the involvement of luck; See D. Krishna Kumar v. State of Andhra
Pradesh (2002) 5 AnLT 806, stating that rummy is a game of skill and there is preponderance of skill and the
house where rummy is played does not constitute as common gambling house and is allowed to collect some
money if it charges money for maintenance and for conducting the games.
36
Various state legislations like The Bengal Public Gambling Act, 1867; The Bombay Prevention of Gambling
Act, 1887; The Delhi Public Gambling Act, 1955: The Madras Gambling Act etc. have been created. These Acts
are more or less similar as the object of these Acts is to ban/restrict gambling. Sikkim and Goa are the only two
states in India which currently permit gambling. There is no express provision in India either banning or
allowing online gambling. However the Sikkim government has recently introduced the Sikkim Online Gaming
(Regulation) Act, 2008 and subsequently by the amended Sikkim Online Gaming (Regulation) Rules, 2009
invited applications for licences to set-up online gaming websites (for gambling and also betting on games like
cricket, football, tennis etc.) with the servers based in Sikkim.
37
These rules were made in exercise of the powers conferred by clause (zg) of subsection (2) of section 87 read
with sub-section (2) of section 79 of the Information Technology Act, 2000 (21 of 2000).
http://www.ijlt.in/pdffiles/IT-(Intermediary%20Guidelines)-Rules-2011.pdf
onus of giving a notice of the existing rule to its user, however, when the issue boils down to
execution of this rule, difficulty crops in as in a virtual realm, the jurisdiction as well as the
laws gets confusing. For instance, online gambling is specifically banned in Maharashtra,38
however it is allowed in Sikkim.39 Our Constitution bestows power to each state to form rules
regarding gambling hence, Sikkim‟s justification in allowing online gambling and garnering
revenue by licensing out gambling portal is legally correct. At the same time, Information
Technology Act, 2000 and the Rules are Central legislations which explicitly states that
online gambling or encouragement of such activities should not be allowed. Therefore, there
is a clear contradiction between Central Rules and a State law and the area is quite
ambiguous.

In fact, the object of the Information Technology Act, 2000 is "to provide legal recognition
for transactions carried out by means of electronic data interchange and other means of
electronic communication, commonly referred to as electronic methods of communication
and storage of information, to facilitate electronic filing of documents with the Government
agencies and further to amend the Indian Penal Code, the Indian Evidence Act, 1872, the
Banker's Book Evidence Act, 1891 and the Reserve Bank of India Act, 1934 and for matters
connected therewith or incidental thereto." The object of the Sikkim Online Gambling Act,
2008 per contra is to regulate online gaming in Sikkim, which were originally limited to
poker and casino games, such as, Black Jack, Pontoon, Bingo, Poker, Baccarat and the like.
On the 1st of August 2009, this Act was consequently introduced to ensure that online sports
betting in the State of Sikkim was made legal, subject to the operator holding a license
granted by the State Government of Sikkim. Thus, at present online betting in sports through
websites is permitted only in the State of Sikkim and nowhere else in India. In fact, even the
servers for these websites are based in Sikkim. A similar situation arises with respect to Goa
wherein the Goa, Daman and Diu Public Gambling Act, 1976, with prior permission of the
State Government authorises any game of electronic amusement/ slot machines in five star
hotels and such table games and gaming on board in offshore vessels, as may be notified,
subject to such conditions including the payment of recurring and non-recurring fees. 40
Therefore, the object because of which both the State Acts have been passed are different in

38
Besides the Bombay Prevention of Gambling Act, 1887, the Maharashtra State Legislative Assembly has
passed the Maharashtra Casino (Control & Tax) Act, 1976 but has failed to enforce and notify the same till date.
39
Sikkim Online Gambling Act, 2008
40
http://hariani.co.in/newsletters/August_7_2013.pdf
nature with respect to the Central Legislations as the subject of the both laws are again
governed by two different lists, thus distinguishing the autonomies.

In fact, recently the Information and Communication Technology (ICT) has added another
complicated dimension to this entire scenario in the midst of gaming and gambling
entrepreneurs still struggling to understand and apply the laws of gaming and gambling of
various states. 41 Now gaming and gambling is being conducted in an online environment
with the help of software, hardware and other ICT systems. 42 As a result the Indian
government is finding it very challenging to deal with online gambling in India.43

As has been mentioned above, besides Sikkim and Goa, there are no specific and dedicated
online gaming and gambling/betting laws in India. This has not dissuaded various individuals
and companies from exploring the online gaming industry of India.44 In fact, over the years,
there have been increase in the number of arrests and prosecutions of various individuals and
companies in India. For instance, recently the owner of an online betting website for IPL 7
was arrested in Mumbai for allowing betting on his website.45 Similar arrests have been made
by police of Delhi, Ahmedabad, Mumbai, etc. At present, there is also an on-going legal
tussle before the Supreme Court of India by an application filed by the Bihar Cricket
Association against Mr. N. Srinivasan, the Board of Cricket Council India and several others
(which include high profile players) for similar issues in which the Mudgal Committee has
made several revelations of illegal and unauthorised betting and spot fixing in the IPL.46 In
fact, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has taken a progressive step in establishing a
Sports Integrity Unit to investigate illegal sports betting in India.47

Meanwhile certain stakeholders approached the Supreme Court of India to get clarity on the
legality of online games like rummy, poker, and the like. The Supreme Court‟s request to the
Central Government to provide their opinion and view on the matter has been informally

41
Online Gambling In India And Legal Issues, Perry4law.org
42
Supra 41
43
https://technolegalthoughts.wordpress.com/
44
The primacy of this activity in the economic scenario can be logically deduced from the enormous cash flow
involved as evidenced by reports from KPMG which has estimated India‟s overall gambling market (most of
which is illegal and unaccounted) to be 60 billion dollars which amounts to around 3 to 3.5% of India‟s Gross
Domestic Product .
45
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/mumbai/Main-bookie-nabbed-in-Mumbai/articleshow/36008906.cms
46
http://www.lawinsport.com/blog/indian-sports-law/item/a-helpful-summary-of-the-complex-ipl-6-spot-fixing-
and-betting-case
47
http://www.firstpost.com/sports/cbi-sets-up-special-unit-to-probe-fraud-fixing-and-illegal-betting-in-sport
1481573.html
denied.48 This means that till the time Supreme Court actually declares that online rummy,
online poker and online card games are legal in India, majority of these gaming stakeholders
may be exposing themselves to legal risks and civil and criminal liabilities.49

Such lack of dynamicity has therefore, necessitated the emergence of the Information
Technology Rules, 2011 to prevent citizens from registering at online sports gambling sites
by making Internet Service Providers responsible for unblocked offshore operations.50 This
legislative origination is an offshoot of a previous legislation called the Information
Technology Act, 2000 which engulfed the scope of online betting by recognizing gambling as
a cyber-crime tool.51 Furthermore, the Foreign Exchange Management Act, 2005 legislates
upon the issues of cross border gambling transactions and online betting regulation and
banning the same.52 Yet gambling laws and regulations in this respect are in an indefinable
state in the country as the Information Technology Act, 2000 ceases to prevent customers
from logging into overseas websites without protection of national law.53 Online gambling
sites are also often beyond the jurisdiction of Indian courts making enforcement of
punishment awarded by the Indian authorities a challenging task.54 The mitigating strategy
administered in the contemporary context has been extension of extra territorial jurisdiction
of The Indian Information Technology Act 55 eventually leading to cross-border litigation
involving internet based gambling operations similar to which is the US case of In State of
Minnesota v. Granite Gate Resorts, Inc. 56 Conclusively, the move of restrictive and
restrained legalisation has been backed solely by the two states of Goa and Sikkim which
have indulged in licensing and monitoring of the functioning of gambling houses on land and
sea.57

48
Mahalakshmi Cultural Assn. v. Dir.Inspector Gen.Of Police & Ors., in SLP(C) NO. 15371/2012.
49
Supra 47
50
Salman Waris, Online Gambling and Betting on Cricket Matches continues unabated, Indian Law
Journal,Volume 2, Issue 3 , http://www.indialawjournal.com/volume2/issue_3/article_by_salman.html
51
Legalization of Gambling on outcomes of sporting events – A Farcial solution to an uncontrollable problem,
Inakshi Jha & Shantanu Dey
52
Animesh Sharma, Gambling Laws in India, http://lawlex.org/lexpedia/gambling-laws-in-india/8590,
53
Kapilesh Sharma, Anti-Match Fixing Law of India in Pipeline but Online Gambling and Betting still
untouched, (May 29, 2013), http://www.opednews.com/articles/Anti-Match-Fixing-Law-Of-I-by-Editor-LNAV-
130529-357.html
54
Supra 52
55
Salman, Supra note 50
56
State of Minnesota v. Granite Gate Resorts, Inc., 568 N.W. 2d 715, Court File No. c6-95-7227.
57
FICCI, Regulating Sports Betting in India, http://www.ficci.com/sector/37/Add_docs/ficci-faq-on-sports-
betting.pdf
Judicial Perspective of Online Gambling

The draftsmen while enacting laws with respect to gambling prior to the advent of
technology,58 regulated gambling only in the premises of a building or closed construction.
Reliance can be placed in the decision of Super Cassettes Industries Ltd. v Myspace Inc. &
Anr,59 to infer that if there are change in circumstances or any introductions in technology,
which were not perceived of while bringing out or introducing a new law, then statutory
interpretation suggests that this new change or advancement in technology can be construed
to be part of that existing law provided they fall within the same genus. In fact, in that case
the Court while interpreting of the Copyright Act, 1957 held the word „Place‟ to include
„Place on the internet‟. The principles of interpretation of statutes suggest that when there are
new technological inventions or change in circumstances, which were not in contemplation at
the time when the statute was enacted, the said invention or technological advancement may
be construed to be included in the existing enactment if they fall within the same genus, as
provided in the existing enactment.60

With the development of online gaming a question can arise as to what would be the situation
when games of skill are played on virtual platforms. Can these games of skills be offered for
money or is there any restriction on taking stakes from games of skill on websites
making profit? This issue recently came up for deliberation before the New Delhi District
Court wherein a petition was filed under Section 36 of the Civil Procedure Code, 1908 along
with certain other questions involving the legality of games of skill and online games for
cash, the constitutional right to establish businesses of games of skill, penal provisions
relating to online gambling, advertising online gaming and payment gateways for online
games of skill. The court while arriving at its conclusions held that Article 19(1)(g)61 of the
Constitution does not provide any protection to online games and are outside the purview of
trade and commerce. The court while interpreting the concept of the term „common gaming
house‟ declared that online gaming or offering online games of skill may fall within its ambit
and therefore, may attract criminal liability. A clear classification was made with respect to
games of skill when played in the physical form compared to those that were played in a
virtual platform. The court though made no specific reference or interpretations to any

58
Except the Sikkim Online Gaming (Regulation) Act, 2008
59
2011(48)PTC49(Del)
60
The Gambling Quotient of Rummy, Ranjana Adhikari, Smitha Krishna Prasad, Gowree Gokhale (Nishith
Desai)
61
(g) to practise any profession, or to carry on any occupation, trade or business
gambling laws for arriving at its conclusions. While analysing the scope of the concept of the
term „skill‟, the court restricted its approach and defined six parameters for its analysis, which
were ability, strategy, physical co-ordination, technical expertise and lastly knowledge. By
keeping these parameters in mind the court arrived at the conclusion that even though games
of skills are declared to be legal and no bar can be placed on them from being played
physically, i.e. in „common gaming houses‟ for stakes or profits, per contra the same will not
apply if they are played on an online forum. This was held permissible for games of skill
played in an online forum when not played for stakes or profits and would therefore, be legal
as per Indian Law. The Courts reasoning was that the degree of chance increases in online
gaming and therefore the possibility of manipulation including randomness, cheating, and
collusion in the online space increases to a great extent, compared to when played in a
physical location. According to the Court, this would also imply then that playing on an
online forum offering real cash prices would make them no different from physical casinos
and therefore, has held that playing through a click of a mouse cannot be included under the
ambit of skill. Besides this reasoning the court also went onto to hold that advertisement of
any form on these online gaming sites are illegal and not permitted in any form. According to
the authors, although this judgement seems to be a progressive interpretation taking into
consideration that there is no law prevalent on the subject of online gaming and the fact that
for the first time, an Indian court has analysed in this depth the ramifications it presents, it
will have to be stated that there are still various lacunae in its interpretation of the existing
laws comprehensively. There can very well be many other alternative interpretations to the
courts conclusions. This verdict should therefore, not be regarded as conclusive of the
legality of online gaming and as well as skill games.

Suggestions

Now that we have dealt in detail with the laws pertaining to gambling played in physical
places and as there are already many legislations in place to tackle the issue, our suggestions
should therefore, be focused towards providing a regularisation for those games (especially
played in the online forum) wherein it involves the exercise of skill and judgement.

Betting and gambling both involve the risk of money on the outcome of a sporting event.
Betting in particular is different from the other common forms of gambling, i.e., playing
games of chance and taking part in lotteries. This is so as it concerns the application of skill
and judgement by the participant on an event which is outside the control of the operator.62 In
fact, sport betting being a very popular pastime in India accounts for more than $60bn per
annum.63 Let us now examine certain factors that make betting and gambling a controversial
subject in India;64
 As has been noted in the introduction of this article, it has been mentioned that betting
and especially gambling has always been viewed with a sense of social disproval and
the reason can be attributable to religious doctrines and philosophies, which explicitly
prohibit them in all forms. But with the advancement in law and certain principles laid
down by the courts in the country, a regularised version of gambling and betting is
permissible. The online version though as mentioned above is still a grey area.
 Many risks seem to arise while indulging in either betting or gambling, one being the
danger of unregulated and unscrupulous operators being prejudicial to participants.
Besides this, the young and susceptible are exposed to these activities as well and this
may in turn influence them to participate in such nefarious deeds and very ill-
advisedly bet or gamble in ways which are unwise and can become damaging to their
lives and those around them. In fact, resorting to such forms of betting or gambling
may increase the tendency for criminals to exploit betting them in various ways for
their own selfish needs.
 The affiliation with sports betting has often had a negative and adverse implication in
India, with sports becoming more popular in terms of illegal operators and scandals
where players, bookmakers or teams have been involved in tax evasion, bribery,
point shedding, disclosure of confidential information, spot fixing and the like.
 Having noted the abovementioned points, it can be stated that both betting and
gambling in particular, have been present from time immemorial and have now
become a social constant without which no society in the world today can survive or
thrive without, even with the strictest and harshest of restrictions and prohibitions
placed on it.

For centuries governments have created mechanisms and checks with an attempt to control
and alleviate gambling and betting, but these are not new problems faced by them. In fact,
over the last few years, the nature and impact of the industry has changed. The government
can take the following approaches while analysing gambling or betting, i.e. either prohibit or
62
Supra 16
63
Online Gaming: A Gamble or a sure bet'; report prepared by KPMG International Cooperative
64
Supra 15
ban it completely based on it being immoral and influencing the public in indulging in
nefarious activities or accept it as it is virtually impossible to curb or prohibit them in toto
and therefore, bring some kind of strict regulation to control the same. The one upside for the
government if they accept it and regulate it properly is that it will thereby ensure and act as a
positive means for generation of revenue and progressive economic growth. But in order to
introduce an effective regularisation according to the authors, there should be certain guiding
principles such as the following:

 As mentioned above, the law has always been protective of the young and susceptible
and for obvious reasons. Minors have generally been considered in making unwise
and irrational decisions which might affect not only them personally, but also people
surrounding them. For this reason, now that gambling has been made accessible on an
online forum, it will become a herculean task for the government to ensure that access
to such sites by this vulnerable class is curbed and not encouraged. Therefore, the
most important guideline would be to preclude such class from having access to these
sites and this responsibility of ensuring that starts right from the parents at home to
the site owners as well. Even with any guideline in place, parents should take a
reasonable effort in ensuring that such sites are not accessible to their children and if
necessary utilise appropriate software to block them. The government would then
need to ensure that these sites too have certain checklists and perform the appropriate
amount of due diligence to make sure that such sites are not easily accessible to them.
The site owners would also need to put in place proper disclaimer and privacy policies
to ensure non participation of such classes. For instance as mentioned above at present
the Information Technology Rules 2011 is the only legislation which provides for the
same.65 This according to the authors is not sufficient and there should therefore be
more progressive laws in ensuring the protection of our youth.
 It is the responsibility of the government while providing guidelines to also ensure
that such online sites do not present any objectionable or pornographic content.
Sometimes these sites use in the games animated caricatures of human beings,
especially the feminine class who are depicted in a very degrading and provocative

65
In April 2011, new guidelines for intermediaries have been notified under the IT Act, which require the
intermediaries like ISPs to inter alia observe necessary due diligence and publish rules and regulations and user
agreement for access or usage of the bandwidth provided by the ISP. Such rules and regulations and user
agreement need to include terms which inter alia inform the users of the bandwidth not to host, display, upload,
modify, publish, transmit, update or share any information, that is relating or encouraging gambling, etc. or
otherwise unlawful in any manner whatever.
 way.66 The government under such circumstances should ban the use of such material
completely and reprimand seriously those sites who publish the same.67
 In fact, with increasing use of smartphones by many in this generation, and the fact
that these sites can be accessed through them as well, stringent steps should be taken
by the government in ensuring that all these regulations extend to the mobile world.
Recently, a market research study by a firm named Nielsen has provided an
interesting insight into the amount of usage of the mobile device by a user and has
presented in their report that voice calls and texting accounted for only 25% (twenty
five percent) of smartphone usage whereas multimedia, games, apps and Internet
browsing made up the rest.68
 Playing games or gambling or betting in common gaming houses has always been
relatively easier to regulate and control as they can be physically represented for
within a particular territory, but the same cannot be said for those games or activities
played on an online forum. The difficulty is that people from all over the world can
participate and these make things a lot more complicated. In the wake of these games
being accessible globally, stringent laws pertaining to Foreign Direct Investment,
Money Laundering and the like have to be formulated and applied in order to regulate
the same. At present, the Foreign Direct Investment Policy prohibits entities involved
in lottery, including government, private lottery, online lotteries, etc. and gambling
and betting including casinos and the like. FDI Policy also prohibits foreign
technology collaborations in any form including licensing for franchise, trademark,
brand name, management contract for lottery business and gambling and betting
activities. Non-compliance of these conditionalities can attract penalty of upto thrice
the amount involved where the same is quantifiable and in case where it‟s not around
$4000.69 Similarly remittance of income from winnings from lottery, racing / riding or

66
Reference can be made to The Indecent Representation of Women (Prohibition) Act, 1986 which prohibits
any indecent representation of women i.e. the depiction in any manner of the figure of a woman, her form or
body or any part thereof in such a way as to have the effect of being indecent, or derogatory to, or denigrating,
women, or is likely to deprave, corrupt or injure the public morality or morals through advertisements or in
publications, writings, paintings, figures or in any other manner and provides for penalty in connection with the
same.
67
The Indian Penal Code, 1860 and the Information Technology Act, 2008 penalize publication, distribution
and transmission of obscene content. The IPC inter alia prohibits the sale, hire, distribution, exhibition,
circulation of any obscene object and also penalizes any person who engages or advertises or promotes or offers
or attempts to do any obscene activity. The IT Act inter alia penalizes the transmission of any obscene content
or sexually explicit material in electronic form including child pornographic content.
68
http://www.nielsen.com/us/en/newswire/2013/smartphones-keep-users-in-india-plugged-in.html
69
http://www.nishithdesai.com/fileadmin/user_upload/pdfs/Research%20Articles/Setting_The__Odds__Against
_The_Legal_Juggernaut.pdf
 any other hobby is prohibited under the Foreign Exchange Management (Current
Account Transaction) Rules, 2000. Besides these, entities carrying out the activities
for playing games for cash or for kind, which includes online gaming sites and
casinos, under Anti-Money Laundering laws, are also required to adhere to the
provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002 and related Rules.70 In
fact, Section 12 of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002 provides for the
documents to be maintained by these Gaming Entities.71
 Stringent tax reforms should also be formulated in ensuring that the government does
not lose out on any revenue generated from this dynamic industry, which is mainly
lost to overseas operators or the black economy, as the proceeds from the same can be
utilised to fund educational projects, the sporting industry, the regulatory system itself
and the like. Therefore, it is the role and responsibility of the government in ensuring
that the consumers are provided a safe environment free from all these adversities, for
which detailed and exhaustive regularization needs to be introduced and implemented
soon.

Having made the above observations though, it should be mentioned that making laws and
legislations alone will not be sufficient to regulate such a vibrant market as is there for
gambling, betting and other online form of games. Therefore, in order to regulate these
activities in an efficient manner and for that matter for any system to work, it would

70
The Prevention of Money-laundering (Maintenance of Records of the Nature and Value of Transactions, the
Procedure and Manner of Maintaining and Time for Furnishing Information and Verification and Maintenance
of Records of the Identity of the Clients of the Banking Companies, Financial Institutions and Intermediaries)
Rules, 2005, prescribes the nature and value of transactions for which records are required to be maintained by a
financial institution.
71
Legal Stakes on Gambling: A Primer on Indian Laws, Nishith Desai, 2014
A) Record of all Transactions: The requirement to maintain records arises only in the following cases:
• All cash transactions of the value of more than INR 10,00,000 (approx. USD 20,000) or its equivalent in
foreign currency; or
• All series of cash transactions integrally connected to each other which have been valued below INR
10,00,000 (approx. USD 20,000) or its equivalent in foreign currency where such series of transactions take
place within one calendar month; or
• All suspicious transactions whether or not made in cash and including, inter alia, credits or debits into from
any non-monetary account such as demat account.
B) Records of the identity of the Clients which are required to be maintained: As per the Rules, the Gaming
Entities should also maintain records of the identity of their clients from the date of cessation of the transactions
between the client and them for KYC purposes. Thus, the Gaming Entities have to verify and
maintain a record with the following details at the time of opening of an account or execution of any
transaction with its client:
• identity of the client;
• current address of the client including the
• permanent address;
• nature of business of the client; and
• financial status of the client.
necessary to set up and establish an appropriate supervisory body or bodies to oversee and
regulate the process. In fact, this body or bodies can be vested with certain administrative or
quasi-judicial powers and functions, namely:

 Once the laws are developed and are in place, the first and most important function of
this body would be in reviewing the licenses of existing operators and filtering out
those who do not fit the criteria. The body can give a six month deadline from the
institution of the body to all those operators and business conducting such common
gaming houses and online sites and make it a mandatory process to submit all their
applications which might include information pertaining to their assets, ownership
structure, tax receipts, business plan and the like.
 In fact, as part of this process, the body will also be required to do their due diligence
by investigating and verifying if there were any serious violations committed by any
of the operators either it be relating to any criminality or indulging in any form of
illegal acts such as evasion of tax, indulging in the black economy, publishing
degrading and offensive material and the like and for all those found guilty,
reprimanding them with harsh punishments and in extreme cases even suspending
their licenses and shutting down their sites. The board may also have the power to
appoint a team which will conduct surprise audits and seize any adverse document as
evidence.
 This body will also be vested with the power to receive complaints from the public
and thereafter conduct a hearing with the parties involved and issue necessary
directions wherever required. As this body will be performing quasi-judicial
functions, it would thereby require adequate representation from the legal fraternity.
The body can consist of three members, the presiding member being represented from
the judiciary, generally that person being a retired judge of a High Court. The other
two members can be represented by an expert in the field of gambling and betting and
the third member can be an expert in the field of information technology. The powers,
functions and duties of this body and its members will be derived from the enabling
Act.
 In case of any finding of wrong doing such as a criminal act, money laundering,
evading tax, etc. then the body would have the power to direct the respective authority
to initiate appropriate action against them.
  The Board will also have the power to create and enforce codes of practice and
procedures in relation to betting operators including policies relating to under-age and
problem gambling and, for remote betting, the technical requirements of the hardware
and software systems.72
 To assist the Board in the execution of its functions, a Gambling Commission can be
constituted in every state, which will be headed by a Commissioner, whose role
would include keeping an overall check on gaming activities and exercise control over
those games conducted across various gaming houses and sites along with the power
of issuing tourists permits to those interested in entering these gaming areas (this is
mainly applicable to foreigners). Any wrong doings noticed by the Commissioner will
be reported to the Board either in the form of a report or complaint, which may have
the authority to take the appropriate action.
 The abovementioned powers and functions and powers are not exhaustive and are
only provided as a guideline to kick start the introduction of such forums to regulate
gambling and other allied activities in India.

Conclusions

Having noted the above points, with the Internet still evolving, the legislature will need to
speed things up in ensuring new laws and regulations are introduced to tackle such activities.
The Indian Government can take a cue from the American Internet Gambling Prohibition Act
(Kyl's Bill),73 and implement specific laws to deal with the issue of Internet Gambling. 74 But
having stated this, the Government is ill-equipped in countering online gambling with all the
technological advancements and legal problems. This can mainly be attributed to the
difficulty arising from tracking and locating gambling activities and also simultaneously
exercising jurisdiction over these operations.75 As most gambling and betting sites are located
offshore, i.e. well outside the jurisdiction of Indian Courts, it becomes near to impossible for
the Authorities to monitor and regulate them. It is legally permissible in those countries to
host these sites and subsequently, Indian laws can‟t shut them down. Therefore, development
of appropriate laws is a pre-requisite in tackling this issue. In fact, at present, the Information
Technology Act is the only act which exercises extra territorial jurisdiction with respect to

72
Supra 15
73
http://www.pokernews.com/news/2012/09/summary-text-of-reid-kyl-internet-gambling-bill-13407.htm
74
Supra 58
75
Online Gambling and Betting on cricket matches continues unabated, Salman Waris
computer related offences committed in India. 76 The recent suggestions by the Law
Commission of India in introducing new reforms to do away with out dated laws such as in
gambling, betting and the like is definitely a positive step in bring about a systematic
regularization in India77 and hopefully the parliament and the legislators act swiftly and with
seriousness in implementing the same.
********

76
Reference can be made to the following cases to see how jurisdiction can be enforced; US case Missouri ex
rel. Nixon v. Interactive Gaming & Communications Corp Case No. CV97-7808 (Circuit Court of Jackson Cty)
and State of Minnesota v. Granite Gate Resorts, Inc.(Supra 57)
77
In fact, the Law Commission of India, an expert body which advises the Union Law Ministry on legal reforms
has come out with a comprehensive report on repeal/modification of obsolete legislations keeping in view
technological advancements at the instance of the Union Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad and Prime Minister
Narendra Modi. In its 248th report (interim) titled „Obsolete Laws: Warranting Immediate Repeal‟, the Law
Commission has suggested review of 261 statutes listed in Appendix-V (which includes laws relating to
gambling) for further study with a view to assess suitability of repeal.