HYDERABAD: A division bench of Hyderabad High Court on Wednesday directed TS government to allow petitioner companies, who organize online rummy, to carry on their business outside Telangana till further orders.
The bench was dealing with batch petitions by various companies from Mumbai, Delhi, and Hyderabad which challenged the Ordinance issued by the government in bringing “Online Rummy” game under the Gaming Act by amending the provisions of Telangana Gaming Act, 1974. After the conclusion of the petitioners’ arguments, the bench posted the matter to Monday (July 3) for hearing the arguments of the TS advocate general.
The state government had issued the Ordinance on June 17, 2017, prohibiting Rummy even online. Aggrieved with the same, organisers like Junglee Games India Private limited, Play Games 24x7 private limited and Head Infotech (India) Private Limited moved the HC for relief.
The counsels for petitioners companies said the game of online rummy was predominantly a game of skill and not a game of chance. Even the Supreme Court had given several judgements on this issue. The Telangana government could not have issued an Ordinance to prohibit the game by amending the Gaming Act and it does not have the competence, they pointed out.