PMK Anbumani demands ordinance to ban online gambling

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Pattalli Makkal Katchi (PMK) president Anbumani Ramadoss said the Tamil Nadu government should come out with an ordinance banning online gambling instead of waiting for the next Assembly session, according to news reports.

The next assembly session is scheduled for October/November. Ramadoss said the Stalin led government need not wait till the assembly session and must enact an ordinance at the earliest. He said online gambling will result in immeasurable damages to society if the state government waits for another five/six months.

The Ramadoss father-son duo are the most vocal critics of online rummy and skill games. Last month, Anbumani Ramadoss has urged the Tamil Nadu government to remove a chapter that explains integers using a rummy game with decks of cards in the mathematics syllabus for Class VI students of the Tamil Nadu state board.

In December, the Former Union Minister for Health in a series of tweets said that suicides have considerably decreased when the AIDMK led government enacted an online gaming ban law. The politician said suicides are on the rise again after the Madras High Court law struck down the law as being unconstitutional in August last year. The Tamil Nadu government has filed a petition with the Supreme Court challenging the decision of the Madras High Court which is yet to be heard.

The DMK government last month, said it is committed to banning online gambling and that all efforts are on to invoke the existing laws to serve the purpose. The earlier AIADMK government had enacted a gaming ban law that prohibited all gaming for stakes.

Ever since the decision of the High Court the opposition has been demanding the government enact a fresh law. Chief Minister MK Stalin was fully aware of the evils of online gambling that destroyed several families, state Law Minister S Regupathy said in the assembly a few days after the law was struck down.

The previous AIADMK government had promulgated an ordinance to ban online gambling “in a hurry” leading to the Madras High Court striking it down, he claimed. Earlier there were also reports that the government may enact a new law in 2021. Tamil Nadu state industries minister Thangam Thennarasu on Monday said that the DMK government is determined to enact strong legislation for banning online rummy in the State.

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