Is Online Gambling Illegal In India

1. Is Online Gambling Illegal In Indiana
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1. India is certainly not a country known for its gambling culture. In fact, it’s pretty much non-existent, no thanks to the outdated gambling laws that are in much-needed updating. However, the online gambling industry is a completely different story.
2. Main article: Online Gambling In India Online gambling is illegal in the state of Maharashtra under the ' Bombay Wager Act '. Other acts/legislations are silent with respect to.

Indian citizens are free to win huge prizes thanks to international lotteries online. International lotteries are not subject to the usual Indian gambling laws as the draws take place outside the country allowing residents of all Indian states to play regardless of the gambling laws in any particular state.

Online Gaming/Gambling laws in India prohibit betting or wagering and any act which is intended to aid or facilitate the same. Gaming/Gambling being a State subject, gaming/gambling in India have laws which differ from state to state . This would mean what is permitted in one State may be an offence in another. The Public Gambling Act, 1867, is the central enactment on the subject, which has been adopted by certain states of India like Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Madhya Pradesh etc. The other States have enacted their own legislation to regulate gaming / gambling in India activities within its territory. It is to be noted that State Legislations have been enacted prior to the advent of virtual / online gambling in India and therefore references of gaming/gambling in India, in respective state legislatures are in relation to physical premises only, barring Sikkim and Nagaland which are the only States who have introduced regulations pertaining the online gaming.

After going through the State gambling laws for online gambling in India, it is found that, except the State of Orissa and Assam, most of the States have excluded ‘games of skill’ from applicability of its respective gaming/gambling laws. Further, playing certain games including ‘Poker’, both online and offline, is permitted under the laws of West Bengal, Nagaland and Sikkim subject to licence from the appropriate State Authorities. But this would be applicable only in the territorial limits of the respective State. In Goa, gambling is permitted only in Government permitted places operated as casinos.

The issue of online gambling in India laws in India still remains a grey area which is yet to be adjudicated by Courts of India. Having said that, necessary inferences can be drawn from orders passed by the Court while deciding the issue of whether a particular game is a ‘game of skill’ or a ‘game of chance’. But the issue of whether a ‘game of chance’, if played like a sport without stakes amount to gambling or not? still remains largely undecided.

Game of Skill v. Game of Chance:

There has been a substantial discussion by Supreme Court and High Court on what constitutes a ‘game of skill’ and a ‘game of chance’. What is adduced from the judgments is that a game where there is preponderance of skill over chance is a ‘game of skill’ and vice-versa.

By taking the above ratio into account, SC in the matter of State of AP v. K.Satyanarayana(1968) held the game of Rummy to be a ‘game of skill’. However, the Court in its judgment has indicated that if there is gambling or if the gambling house is making profit from the game of rummy, then it could amount to an offense under the laws of AP. It was further observed by SC that the three card game which goes under different names such as flush, brag, etc. is a game of pure chance. This was relied upon by SC in another its other judgments viz. M.J.Sivani v. State of Karnataka (1995) and Dr. K.R. Lakshmanan vs State Of Tamil Nadu And Anr (1996).

The issue of whether rummy if played with stakes amounts to gambling or not has not been decided by Supreme Court. However, Andra Pradesh High Court in D. Krishna Kumar And Anr. vs State Of A.P.(2002) (Annexure-2) relying upon the SC decision of 1968 held that till such time the state gambling Act is amended to lay down that playing Rummy with stakes is 'gaming', playing Rummy with stakes is not 'gaming' within the meaning of the Act and is therefore allowed.

Delhi District Court: Gaussian Network Pvt. Ltd. Vs. Monica Lakhanpal

The issue of Online Gaming/gambling laws in India was discussed in detailed in the above case when the issue was put up before the Court under Order 36 Rule(1) of CPC by the parties. The Court held the following:

• Game of skills, if played with stakes does not amount to gambling;
• Playing games of skill for money is only legal in the real form, online games cannot be compared to real games;
• Attracting business or enticing players by alluring them with prize money is illegal;
• Gaming sites partaking a slice on the winning hand are illegal as they amount to a virtual gambling house.

Having said that, the said ruling was rendered infructuous as during the final arguments in the Revision petition, parties sought to withdraw the petition. So the effect being there is no ruling which can be treated as a precedent as regards online gambling.

Gujarat High Court on Poker:

The issue whether Poker is a ‘game of skill’ or a ‘game of chance’ was never discussed in detail by any Court in India until the recent decision/order dated December 4, 2017 passed by Gujrat High Court in Dominance Games Pvt. Ltd. V. State of Gujarat, wherein, the said issue was extensively pondered upon. The Court in its said decision held that Poker is a ‘game of chance’ and therefore amounts to gambling under Gujarat Prevention of Gambling Act, 1887. While arriving at the aforesaid decision, the Court inter alia observed the following:

• That the game of poker originated from ‘flush’ or ‘Indian teenpatti’ which has been observed by SC as a game of chance in its 1968 judgment and consequently, as a corollary, the game of poker is also to be construed as a game of chance;
• The game of poker involves a process wherein the players have no control or say on the cards received by them and the final outcome is based on mere luck or chance depending upon how the cards are received by the player. Poker face to bet, would be a part of bluffing or deception and the so-called strategy, cannot be considered as a skill. The outcome also depends on the ability of a player to spend money and how deep are his pockets. It is a game of deceiving, bluffing and duping other players;
• The game of Rummy is different than Poker. While poker involves betting or wagering, rummy has nothing to do with stakes and betting or wagering is not essential to the game of rummy;
• The Court while noting the ills of gambling and impact of gambling on the moral fibre of society noted that ‘one must not overlook the ground realities in India or the country like India, where the majority of the population is struggling for the basic necessity and there is lack of awareness amongst the people and if they are permitted by betting in the craze of easy money, they do not know what to do if the things go wrong.’

Mr. K.N Suresh, Secretary of Indian Poker Association has filed an appeal against the said order, being Letters Patent Appeal No. 2625 of 2017 before the Division Bench of Gujarat High Court. The bench after hearing the matter briefly on December 28, 2017 issued notice to the state government and other respondents, and till date the matter is not heard finally. Having said that, since no ad-interim/interim reliefs are granted presently, the Single Judge order stands valid and enforceable.

Though the order does not specifically make any observation on Poker, if played as a sport and/or without stakes, however, while differentiating between rummy and poker, the Hon’ble Court at para 60 of the said order makes a presumption that wagering or betting is an inseparable part of the game of poker and therefore would involve stake. The Court while holding Poker to be a ‘game of chance’ has also predominantly relied upon moral religious and social grounds. In the absence of the said order being overruled and the issue being addressed specifically, the game of poker, even if played as a sport and/or without stakes remains a grey area which is then left at the discretion of police authorities.

POSITION:

Though the issue of Poker was considered by Gujarat High Court in view of the provisions of Gujarat Prevention of Gambling Act, 1887, in arriving at the decision of Poker being a ‘game of chance’, the court made several observations like how the game is played, origin of the game, reference to ancient Indian literature, moral and religious grounds, etc. which may be applied by other states/state machinery having similar gambling laws. The issue is likely to be clarified by Division Bench of Gujarat High Court, once the appeal is finally heard.

In view of the above, it is clear that if a game is considered to be a ‘game of chance’ under the state laws and rulings by the Courts and is played with stakes, would constitute gambling under the respective state laws with exception pertaining to a few states as mentioned above. If an entity is able to show that a particular online game or a particular on-ground gaming activity has preponderance of skill over chance and/or is played as a sport without stakes, it may fall within the exception of gaming/gambling under the state gambling laws. It is pertinent to note however that if online gaming is illegal in any State, the promotion of the same in such State would amount to violation of ASCI Code as well as Cable TV Network Regulation Act, 1994.

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Is Gambling Legal in India?

Usually, some people in India have a negative viewpoint regarding gambling. The debate over a topic ‘Is gambling addiction or a source of entertainment’ has been constantly in its running phase with various people giving their own point of view. There are numbers of people in India who have a great craze for placing a bet into a variety of sports and the large selection of online casino games. But, some people would not able to turn their passion into reality because of the strict gaming rules and regulations associated with gambling in India. Many Indian residents have a question related to gambling legalization in India.

The legal status of gambling in India is completely unclear. Several law authorities and organizations are struggling to create the new legal situation in India, but no one has come to some standard legal status. Some believe that Indian people should be restricted from gambling because it divided the country, while others believe that it should be fully legal in India. Due to which, people usually get confused about gambling in India.

To help you get the most appropriate answer to this question, we have provided all the relevant information after doing detailed research. According to our research, we have found that gambling is legal in India. But, to be fully confident about our point, we got into an association with well-known legal experts of the country. The current legal status of gambling in India is still unclear. If you don’t know how and where you can place a bet legally in India, then you will get all the answers to your questions in this post.

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Do Online Casinos Legally Operate In India?

Have you heard a lot about the thrill of playing roulette or slots on online casinos? Do you want to pamper yourself in popular casino games for some extra adventure? Wondering whether it would go in favor of laws in India or not? Don’t think much more. In this post, you will find the best legal advice from the reliable legal experts of the country.

Is It Legally Allowed To Gamble In India?

We had an interview with Mr. Manoj Mishra, a Senior Advocate in the Odisha State Bar Council. In this interaction, he had presented the most useful facts about the legalization of gambling in India. Here is a short overview of the information given by Mr. Manoj Mishra.

According to the Public Gambling Act of 1867, gambling was initially banned in India during the colonial period. This law states that a person who is enjoying the public gambling facility and an individual or a company that is providing gambling services on a federal level would be considered to commit an illegal activity. However, this law did not mention any online gambling activity because it was formed many years before the advancement of the biggest technology of the internet, which has today becomes the boon for myriads of people.

The legal situation of online gambling sites in India is quite unclear. There is no reference to the Public Gambling Act of 1867 to the use of online gambling platforms.

On receiving this quote, people started believing that online gambling is legal in the country because it is not prohibited under the law of Public Gambling Act of 1867. And, it is true somewhat in some aspects. This is because if the Indian government literally ban online gambling in the country, then they could have made some additional amendments in this law and others to fully prohibit the activity of web-based betting or gambling. But, this would not actually happen. In fact, the government hand over this responsibility to each state of the country.

Now, it is upon the state government to decide whether or not to prohibit online gambling in their region. In Goa and Sikkim, online gambling or betting is officially legal, while it is fully banned in the Indian state of Maharashtra. Most of the Indian states such as Tamil Nadu not able to comes out with the straight legal status of online gambling. There are no laws for the legalization of online gambling. Hence, it is still unclear to say that web-based gambling is completely prohibited in such states. All in all, it is not a prosecutable crime to place a bet online excluding the state of Maharashtra.

With the exception of Maharashtra, there are no laws in India which states that online gambling is illegal for Indian people. According to our knowledge, there are no Indians who are being indicted to wager on online betting or gambling sites.

Our interview sessions with Mr. Manoj Mishra and other advocates made us believe that online gambling is not the biggest crime in India. There is no individual who has ever been found guilty for placing a bet online.

According to the Indian law, casino operators, betting sites, or gambling service providers may not run their business on Indian Territory unless they are legally allowed by the specific state of the country. So, only those sites are allowed to operate, which run by the companies located outside India. All people in India can try their luck for fun and real money at those betting sites or online casinos that are located in other countries and that nation would not prohibit online gambling.

Do Horse Racing And Cricket Betting Legal In India?

In 1996, the Supreme Court of India legalizes horse race betting in the country because it is a skill-based game rather than a game of chance. This legalization puts some people in confusion because they believe that the results of football and cricket matches can also be determined with proper gaming skills.

The main reason behind the legalization of horse race betting in India is the fear of losing the most profitable and leading industry of horse breeding in India. Policymakers know that putting a ban over horse race betting in India would affect the growth of horse breeding in India. So, they legalize this type of gambling.

When Will Online Gambling Be Completely Allowed Legally In India?

The increasing engagement of Indian people in online gambling and its contribution to the country’s economic growth has made the government of India rethink about the legalization of this form of gambling. If the government truly wants to declare it illegal, then it would make some extra changes in the laws to assure the full prohibition of online gambling. But, as we have already discussed above, this thing has never been done in reality. So, it is clear that online gambling is allowed legally in India and would enjoy the same legal status in the years to come.

The Indian government and individual state governments are having a debate over the topic ‘whether or not to fully legalize online gambling in India’. Majority of the people and government authorities believe that it would be the best move for the country’s economic growth. Instead of donating all the tax money by Indian citizens to a foreign government, it would be the best option for the Indian government to gather taxes on the biggest industry of online gambling. It would further help Indian citizens to feel completely safe and confident that betting they are made online is sanctioned and regulated by the Indian federal government.

Common Questions Frequently Asked By People About Indian Gambling Laws

Ans. Yes, you can place a bet on online casinos or betting sites in India excluding the state of Maharashtra.

Ans. According to top legal experts of India, you do not risk anything on placing a bet online in India. They have a no record where any person has been convicted, prosecuted, or charged for doing online gambling in India ever.

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