In a major reprieve for rummy players, the Supreme Court stayed the Madras High Court decision that prohibited Mahalaxmi Cultural Association (MCA) from making a profit (or permit stakes) from the game of rummy.
Exclusive In response to a petition filed by the Aam Aurat Aadmi Against Gambling (AAAAG) to impose stricter regulations on casinos and eventually ‘phase out’ casinos, Goa Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar is said to have assured civil society activists that he is actively working on measures to discourage the casino industry and possibly even phase out offshore casinos in a few years.
It is interesting to note that all websites offering “games of skill” including websites offering rummy, chess, poker, golf and other such games have been careful not to offer their services to residents of Assam and Odisha (and more recently after the Madras High Court decision outlawing rummy for stakes, even in Tamil Nadu and Pondicherry, the regions where the territorial jurisdiction of the Madras High Court extends to).
It seems that India is witnessing a spurt of online gaming and wagering websites offering paid gaming services to Indian citizens and giving out attractive cash awards to the winners.
Adda52.com is a recent website out of Kolkata which is offering online cash poker games to Indian citizens. Similarly, Dream11.com is a fantasy game where one has to create his own fantasy cricket team. Participants are allowed to wager real cash against one another and the best performing ‘fantasy team’ is awarded cash prizes.
A recent decision of the division bench of Madras High Court has suprisingly ruled that playing rummy for stakes would be a criminal offence as per the Madras Police Act 1888 which is pari materia with most of the other state gaming Acts.
Barely twenty days after storming to power, the BJP-led Manohar Parrikar government in Goa has predictably brought changes in the casino policy in their first budget presented today. The new Goan government which is seen as ‘anti-casino’ has hiked the annual license fee of offshore casinos to Rs. 6.5 crore a year. This new casino fee is up from the Rs. 5 crore/year annual fee charged by the previous government. Further the annual license fee of onshore casinos in five star hotels has been increased drastically from the current Rs. 15 lakh/ year to Rs. 2.5 crore/year.
With new allegations suggesting that the India-Pakistan 2011 world cup semi-final and other matches were ‘fixed’ former International Cricket Council (ICC) chief Ehsan Mani has joined the list of cricket administrators advocating legalising betting.
According to a report in Pakistan’s Dawn newspaper, Mani is said to have made the following statement, “There’s no doubt that India, certainly Delhi and Mumbai, is the epicentre of cricket betting… I’m a strong advocate of legalising betting in India, and bringing it under control of regulatory authorities so that… the conduct of bookies can be monitored properly.”
Leading Indian financial daily Mint has cited the website glaws.in and the author as an expert on gaming laws in their cover story in Lounge titled ‘Shuffle up and deal’ (March 17th 2012). The story on Mint about the growth of poker as a luxury brand has cited various revelations first written on this website.
In a development that may spell doom for the casino industry, Goa’s state government has witnessed a change with the right-wing alliance led by Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) returning to power by defeating Digambar Kamat led Indian National Congress (INC).
Though it was the BJP-supported government which had issued the first casino licenses in 1999, the BJP had been fighting the current elections on an ‘anti-casino’ plank. BJP chief ministerial candidate Manohar Parrikar had declared that casinos are a nuisance and promised that offshore casinos would be relocated in the Arabian Sea, five nautical miles away from the shore.
Sikkim government’s decision to issue online gaming licenses in 2008 created excitement and buzz among leading business houses and International gaming companies. Interested companies saw this as a great opportunity to tap the gaming industry believed to be worth billions of dollars.
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Recent Posts
- Reprieve for rummy players: Supreme Court temporarily stays Madras HC decision on rummy, to further hear appeal
- Goa government likely to introduce amendments by year end to phase out casinos
- Portions of Assam and Odisha Gaming Acts might be unconstitutional, games of skill should be permitted across India
- New online gaming websites claim betting, poker are games of skill: Drawing the line between skill and chance games
- Recent Madras HC decision outlaws rummy for profit, decision based on fallacious interpretation
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