In the wake of half-a-dozen people in Tamil Nadu ending their lives in recent days after falling into a debt trap due to online gambling, Additional Advocate General (AAG) M. Sricharan Rangarajan on Tuesday informed the Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court that the State government was actively considering regulating such games. The latest victims of online gambling were two men in Coimbatore.
Taking serious note of people, especially youngsters, killing themselves over debt linked to online rummy and similar games, the court called for appropriate steps to regulate such games.
A Division Bench of Justices N. Kirubakaran and B. Pugalendhi ordered notice to the Centre and the State government on a batch of public interest litigation petitions filed in this regard. The court also ordered notices to cricketer Virat Kohli, former cricketer Sourav Ganguly and actors Prakash Raj, Tamannaah Bhatia, Rana Daggubati and Sudeep, who had endorsed online games in advertisements.
Seeking a response from the governments on the steps taken so far, the judges adjourned the hearing of the case to November 19.
Referring to an order passed by Justice Pugalendhi in July on the need to regulate online games like rummy, Justice Kirubakaran reiterated that legislation was required to regulate such games. The judge asked the State government if any steps had been initiated to pass relevant legislation.
Agreeing with the judge, Mr. Rangarajan submitted that online games involving gambling and betting had turned into a menace, and the State government was actively considering regulating them. He sought time to get instructions in this regard.
The judge pointed out that Assam, Odisha, Nagaland, Telangana and Andhra Pradesh had either banned or were regulating online games, particularly those that involved gambling. A similar issue had been raised before the Gujarat High Court, and the court had directed the government to deal with it appropriately, the judge noted.
Justice Pugalendhi had, in July, asked the State government to consider passing suitable legislation to regulate and control online gaming, taking note of the fact that these games were mushrooming and advertisements on social media were aimed at inducing unemployed youth into playing these games.
Two die
The Coimbatore police said P. Jayachandran of Machampalayam, who was employed at an industrial unit, ended his life after racking up debt due to an addiction to online gambling. He had also incurred medical expenditure recently.
Likewise, 28-year-old S. Jeevanantham, from Thondamuthur, who was engaged in sales and servicing of computers and peripherals, committed suicide after losing money in online gambling.
[Assistance for overcoming suicidal thoughts is available on the State’s health helpline 104 and Sneha’s suicide prevention helpline 044-24640050.]
(With inputs from Wilson Thomas in Coimbatore)
