The Tamil Nadu government on Wednesday told the Madras High Court that it is working on a law banning or regulating online gambling, which Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Edappadi K. Palaniswami had announced earlier this month after the court first called for regulation. The Additional Advocate General for the state, Sricharan Rangarajan, said the state government may have to pass an ordinance to this effect, as the state assembly is not in session. This was first reported by Bar & Bench. The court on Wednesday demanded “a commitment” from the Tamil Nadu government, asking for an affidavit detailing the steps the Palaniswami administration will take to regulate online gambling, as well as the time-frames. The petition, filed by S. Muthukumar, petition calls for action against online rummy platforms such as PlayGames24x7 and was heard by a division bench of the Madurai bench, consisting of Justice N. Kirubakaran and Justice B. Pugalendhi. The Chief Minister Palaniswami had said that a new law would criminalise online gambling in the state, without offering up any further detail. PS Raman, appearing on behalf of The Online Rummy Federation (an industry body for online rummy apps) stated that it had submitted a representation to the state chief secretary towards the regulation of online rummy. The court had noted that Indians may not be advanced enough to understand the regulation and also asked the central government to clarify its stance in the matter, pointing out that there could be conflict between central and state laws, if the central government…
