The AIADMK opposition in Tamil Nadu has spoken out strongly against the failure of the DMK government to defend the law against online gambling with stakes in the Madras High Court.
The court on Tuesday struck down a recent amendment to the Tamil Nadu Gaming Act passed in 1930, which banned online gambling with stakes like rummy and poker.
AIADMK chief and former state justice minister C.Ve Shanmugham told IANS: “The DMK government does not appear to be serious in defending the law against online gambling with of the stakes. The new government has not hired seasoned lawyers in court to defend the law.”
He also called on the DMK government to move the Supreme Court immediately against the Madras High Court’s order. The AIADMK leader said, “The government should have presented valid reasons for the ban to the court.”
The AIADMK plans to lead state-level protests against the DMK government’s callous attitude by presenting the facts regarding the law banning online gambling with stakes such as rummy.
Party spokesman R. Vaithalingam told IANS, “The DMK government should have defended the case properly in court. They should have done it for the young people in our state who will fall prey to online gambling. with stakes.”
The AIADMK leadership has already communicated to all districts to set up programs against the DMK’s inability to present the case properly in the Madras High Court, as well as the inability to hire senior lawyers.
The party is trying to send a message that the DMK government was not serious in fighting the case, implying that the party was in favor of online games with stakes played in the state.
The First Bench of the Madras High Court, consisting of Chief Justice Sanjib Banerjee and Justice Senthilkumar Ramamoorthy, had declared unconstitutional Part II of the TN Gambling and Police (Amendment) Act 2021 which prohibited betting on betting in cyberspace as well as games of skill if played for a wager, wager, money or other stakes.
The bench, however, granted the state freedom to pass other legislation without loopholes, adding that nothing in the judgment would prevent the state government from introducing appropriate legislation confirming the constitutional principles of ownership.
With the rural local body polls in the nine new districts of Tamil Nadu coming up and the urban local body polls also to be scheduled soon, AIADMK believes this could be developed as a political issue on the failure of the DMK to prevent the law. to be rescinded, rather to implicitly state that the DMK was in favor of online gambling with stakes.
AIADMK Chief C.Ve Shanmugham said: “Teenagers and adults were losing all their savings and income in these online betting games. The government had to be a bit more serious when a case is heard by the court.”
–IANS
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(Only the title and image of this report may have been edited by Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
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