PMK president Anbumani Ramadoss on Saturday urged the Tamil Nadu government to expedite legal process in the Supreme Court to ban rummy and poker played online.
A student from Andhra Pradesh who was pursuing engineering at a private college in Chennai reportedly ended his life after losing money in online gambling. This is the ninth such death in the last six months in connection online gambling, Mr. Anbumani posted on X (formerly Twitter).
The Madras High Court on November 9, 2023, refused to strike down the Tamil Nadu Prohibition of Online Gambling and Regulation of Online Games Act, 2022, in its entirety but ruled that the prohibition would apply only to games of chance and not games of skill such as rummy and poker.
“Despite six months of the High Court’s order, the State government has not taken forward any legal process in the Supreme Court to ban online gambling in its entirety, including rummy and poker. The State government is duty bound to save the people of Tamil Nadu from online gambling and it should approach the vacation Bench of the Supreme Court at the earliest to expedite the legal process,” he added.
(Assistance for overcoming suicidal thoughts is available on the State’s health helpline 104, Tele-MANAS 14416 and Sneha’s suicide prevention helpline 044-24640050).