There's a new update in Tamil Nadu's winding journey to regulate online gambling. The state's Governor returned the proposed law that tried to ban online gambling to the state government, reported the Indian Express. The Hindu reports that this was because the state government lacked the "legislative competence" to frame the law in the first place, with the Governor citing the Indian government's recently proposed rules to regulate the online gaming sector to support his position. The bill will be examined by the state legislature now, said sources speaking to the Express. It may be referred back to the state Assembly—which sits from March 20th—for reconsideration. What's the proposed law? The bill is the Tamil Nadu government's attempt at regulating online gambling in the aftermath of multiple gambling-related suicides in the state. It was passed by the Assembly last October, after which it was sent to Governor R.N. Ravi for his assent. That assent never came—and the bill expired without it by November. The government has been at loggerheads with Ravi over the stalling of the law. The matter has been raised by Tamil Nadu's Chief Minister M.K. Stalin in videos, and by Members of Parliament too. What were Ravi's concerns? This isn't the Tamil Nadu government's first attempt to ban online gambling. A similar law brought about in 2021 was struck down by the Madras High Court on various grounds—one of them being that the government lacked the legislative competence to ban the wide range of non-gambling games that it did. Ravi…
