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Madras High Court verdict: AIADMK slams Tamil Nadu govt for failing to defend law against online rummy, poker

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A day after the Madras High Court struck down in its entirety the amendment to the Tamil Nadu Gaming Act which banned online games including online rummy and online poker with stakes, the opposition party in the state – AIADMK – launched an offensive on the ruling DMK.

“The DMK government seems not to be serious in defending the law against online games with stakes. The new government has not engaged senior lawyers in the court to defend the law,” said the AIADMK leader and former state law minister, C.Ve Shanmugham, according to IANS.

“Although the government put forth its views on the ban of online games, the High Court had said that the government did not specify enough reasons when the law was made and without formalizing the rules, online gaming can’t be banned,” he further added.

In fact, the AIADMK plans to hold state-wide protests against the DMK government for its failure in presenting the facts comprehensively in the matter.

“The DMK government should have properly defended the case in the court. They should have done this for the youths of our state who will fall prey to the online games with stakes,” said the Party spokesman R. Vaithalingam.

DMK to enact new law to ban online gaming in Tamil Nadu

Soon after the Madras High Court verdict, Tamil Nadu Law Minister S. Regupathy said on record that the DMK-led government will introduce a new law to ban online games like poker and rummy for stakes in the state.

“Soon after the judgment was delivered, the Chief Minister has advised for passing another law to ban online rummy by specifically mentioning the rules in this regard and also by specifically mentioning the reasons for the ban, in view of the welfare of the general public,” said S. Regupathy.

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He also blamed the AIADMK government for passing the legislation in a hurry on November 21 last year to ban online rummy and poker games.

“When petitions challenged the legislation in the court, though the Advocate General asserted certain points against online rummy, they were not mentioned when the legislation was passed. The Madras High Court has struck down the law observing that it cannot issue a blanket ban on online rummy without framing specific rules in this regard. However, it has also specified nothing prevented the government to pass another law by framing relevant rules,” the minister further added.

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