MADURAI: The Madurai Bench of Madras High Court sought reply from the State on time required to pass legislation against online gambling in Tamil Nadu. Justices N Kirubakaran and B Pugalendhi also directed the Centre to respond on its stand on the issue of online gambling.
The directions were issued on a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) filed by one Muthukumar of Madurai to ban online gambling. When the case was heard on Wednesday, the Additional Advocate General (AAG) Sricharan Rangarajan, appearing on behalf of State government, cited Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami’s recent public statement against the online gambling menace and explained that the government is contemplating on forming a law against online gambling.
The judges replied that though they appreciate the government for its efforts, they want the government to take necessary steps as expeditiously as possible as everyday precious lives are lost due to online gambling.
They directed the AAG to submit an affidavit on the time required by the government to take action against the menace. Meanwhile, they also wanted to know the Centre’s stand on the issue by the next hearing. The matter was adjourned to November 24.
Another PIL of the same nature but seeking action against celebrities including cricketer Virat Kohli, BCCI President Sourav Ganguly, actors Tamannaah, Rana Daggubati among others, who reportedly feature in advertisements that endorse online gambling, will be heard today.
HC refuses to order re-postmortem
Chennai: The Madras High Court on Wednesday refused to order a re-postmortem on the body of Selvamurugan, who allegedly died in police custody at the Virudhachalam sub-jail. The court directed jurisdictional magistrate to consider the representation seeking re-postmortem. Justice T Ravichandran passed the order while disposing of a plea moved by the wife of the deceased.
Selva was arrested on October 28 in connection with a theft and remanded. On November 4, he suffered epilepsy in the prison and was rushed to a government hospital at Virudhachalam, said State Public Prosecutor. The judicial magistrate-I, Virudhachalam, was present when the entire post-mortem was carried out, along with relatives of the petitioner.