MADURAI: The Madurai Bench of Madras High Court issued notice to the Central and State governments and the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) in a Public Interest Litigation (PIL), seeking prohibition of online gambling in Tamil Nadu.
A Division Bench of justices N Kirubakaran and B Pugalendhi observed that many lives have been lost due to such online gambling platforms. Pointing out that many states have banned or regulated online gambling, they stated that the Tamil Nadu government ought to take an action soon. They also referred to a detailed judgement passed by Justice Pugalendhi, highlighting the issue in July this year.
Additional Advocate General (AAG) Sricharan Rangarajan submitted that the State government is actively considering the issue and sought ten days time to file a response, following which the case was adjourned to November 19.
Notice to actors, cricketers
Meanwhile, the Bench also issued notice to leading cricketer Virat Kohli, BCCI president Sourav Ganguly and cine actors Prakash Raj, Tamannaah, Rana Daggubati, and Sudeep on another PIL, which sought action against online gambling platforms and against the above actors allegedly promoting such platforms.
The Online Rummy Federation of India was also issued notice, returnable before November 19.
Lottery racket busted
Tiruchy: In a major bust, the police arrested five persons for printing lottery tickets meant for distribution ahead of Deepavali. The arrests followed raids conducted in 13 spots. Lottery tickets worth `5 lakh and printing machinery were seized. The tickets’ price ranged from `50 to `500. Explaining the modus operandi of the racket, police said distributors receive serial numbers of the tickets through email. The gang targets daily wagers by luring them with easy money.