Back to the Governor: Tamil Nadu Assembly passes Bill to ban online gambling for the second time

“After 131 days, Governor RN Ravi returned the Bill with suggestions for a few changes. The queries raised by the Governor and the replies to them were approved by the Cabinet. Now it is placed before the House. I request all  members to pass the Bill,” Stalin said.

Making an emotional appeal for a consensus, the chief minister said: “Though we have differences of opinion politically, we all should stand together when the life of a common man is at stake”.

Referring to death notes of those who had died by suicide after suffering heavy losses playing online games with stakes, Stalin said: “Voices like ‘my death should be the last one…’ and ‘no other family should be affected…’ should not arise in any state in the country.”

“If such voices arise, the rule of the law and the sovereignty of the states will be meaningless,” the chief minister said.

Related: Should Gov necessarily approve it once TN House passes Bill again?

Bill passed by voice vote

AIADMK leaders O Panneerselvam and Thalavai Sundaram, Manithaneya Makkal Katchi’s MH Jawahirullah, BJP ‘s Nainar Nagendran, and several other MLAs participated in the discussion on the Bill.

The Bill was passed unanimously by voice vote. It would be forwarded to the Raj Bhavan for the Governor’s assent.

Earlier, the Assembly had passed the Bill on 19 October, 2022, based on the Justice K Chandru Committee’s recommendations.

The commission, which looked into the adverse effects of online games with stakes, recommended a ban on them and related advertisements.

The Chandru Committee had considered several people dying by suicide before making the recommendations. It also urged the state government to demand the Centre enact a law against online games with stakes under Article 252 of the Constitution.

Also read:  All about TN ordinance banning online gambling

Puducherry to ban online rummy

Meanwhile, Puducherry Law Minister K Lakshminararyanan on Thursday announced in the Assembly that the territorial government has prepared a draft Bill to ban online rummy in the Union Territory. The draft Bill would be forwarded to the Centre for its approval.

The minister was replying to questions from both treasury and opposition benches on a calling-attention motion by DMK’s R Siva for banning online rummy.

“There is no different opinion on banning the game. We have already prepared a Bill to ban it and after getting the Centre’s approval, it would be tabled in the House for a detailed debate,” the minister said.

Earlier, moving the calling-attention motion, Siva stressed the immediate need to ban the game. Another DMK member L Sampath said he had prepared a regulation and submitted it to the Puducherry government to ban online rummy.

BJP legislator PML Kalyanasundaram said the youth should be protected as there were instances of players falling prey to the game.