New Delhi: On Thursday, the Supreme Court announced that it will consider a number of transferred petitions contesting an internet gaming statute that forbids “online money games” and restricts banking services and advertising associated with them on November 4. This was stated by a bench made up of justices J B Pardiwala and K V Viswanathan after senior solicitors C Aryaman Sundaram and Arvind P. Datar, who represented petitioners in the high courts, brought up the matter.
Sundaram argued that the Chief Justice had already ordered the matters to be brought up, and that the CJI had suggested that the same bench should provide clarification on the hearing schedule. According to him, the matter was brought up before a bench led by Chief Justice B R Gavai, and the bench decided that it would be appropriate for the same bench, which is led by Justice Pardiwala, to hear the case on November 4 as planned.
According to Justice Pardiwala, “Then we will hear it,” The first central law to outlaw real-money internet gaming, including fantasy sports and e-sports played for money, is the Promotion and Regulation of internet Gaming Act, 2025. It has been challenged in the high courts of Madhya Pradesh, Karnataka, and Delhi. The petitioners contend that the Act violates Article 19(1)(g) of the Constitution, which protects the freedom to engage in any profession or lawful trade, by outright prohibiting even judicially recognised skill-based games.
In a related case, the Karnataka High Court also sent notice on Wednesday. In order to prevent contradictory rulings, the Centre pleaded with the top court on September 8 to move the petitions contesting the Promotion and Regulation of Online Gaming Act, 2025 from three high courts to the highest court. It transferred the applications pending before the Delhi, Karnataka and Madhya Pradesh high courts, to the highest court.
Within a week, the court ordered the relevant high courts to transmit all of the records pertaining to all interlocutory applications that were filed. “Let this transfer be done digitally to save time,” the bench stated following hearings from senior counsel C A Sundaram and Arvind Datar for the petitioners and Solicitor General Tushar Mehta for the Union government. Three pending cases from the high courts were transferred to the top court by the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY). “Due to multiple litigations pending before various high courts involving same or substantially similar question of law and challenging the vires of the same impugned Act, it is imperative that the same is transferred to this court or any high court to avoid any divergence of opinions or multiplicity of proceedings,” the plea stated.
It stated that numerous applications contesting the Act’s legitimacy were submitted to the high courts following the President’s assent. A writ petition named Bagheera Carrom (OPC) Pvt Ltd Vs Union of India was pending before the Delhi High Court, a similar plea named Clubboom 11 Sports & Entertainment Private Limited Vs Union of India was pending before the Madhya Pradesh High Court, and a petition named Head Digital Works Private Limited & Anr Vs Union of India was pending before the Karnataka High Court in Bengaluru . The law classified infractions as cognisable and non-bailable offences and forbade the offering or playing of online money games, whether they were skill-based or chance-based. On August 20, the bill was presented to the Lok Sabha. Both Houses of Parliament ratified it by voice vote in less than two days, and on August 22, the president gave his consent.
