The Tamil Nadu Government will again come out with a proper law banning online games like rummy, said Law Minister S. Regupathy.
In a statement issued here, Reghupathy said public interest is important, by following due procedures and specifying valid reasons, the Government will again come out with a law banning online games like rummy.
The Madras High Court on Tuesday struck down the law brought in by the previous AIADMK Government banning online gaming in the state. The law also provided for fine and jail term for the violators.
Finding youngsters getting cheated and committing suicide and to protect the innocent citizens, the AIADMK government brought the law by amending the Tamil Nadu Gaming Act, 1930 (Tamil Nadu Act III of 1930), Chennai City Police Act, 1888 (Tamil Nadu Act III of 1988) and Tamil Nadu District Police Act, 1859 (Tamil Nadu Act XXIV of 1859).
According to Reghupathy, the court had said the government did not specify the reasons for banning the online gaming when the law was made.
PMK founder S. Ramadoss urged the Tamil Nadu government to come out with a law by rectifying the defects.
He said thousands of families in Tamil Nadu were happy when the online gaming was banned last year while the Madras High Court order on Tuesday is disappointing.
With attractive advertisements the online gaming companies lure the youth and then push them into debt trap.
Ramadoss said about 25 youth committed suicide during the last couple of years as they were unable to pay back their debts incurred to play the online games.
He said the previous Tamil Nadu government had first brought an ordinance banning the online gaming last November and later made it into a proper law this February.
As a matter of fact, it as was the Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court in July last year that had suggested to the state government to enact suitable laws to regulate the online gaming industry.
Quashing the first information report (FIR) filed by the Kudankulam police against a school teacher who had watched a game of rummy played in a farm, the court expressed its concern at the unregulated growth of online gaming industry.
Citing the laws against lottery and charging of usurious interest enacted by the Tamil Nadu government the High Court hoped that the state government shall take note of the present alarming situation and pass suitable legislation to regulate and control online gaming through license, keeping in mind the law of the land as well as the judicial precedents in this regard.
"This Court is not against the virtual games, but, the anguish of this Court is that there should be a regulatory body to monitor and regulate the legal gaming activities, be it in the real world or the virtual world," the court had said.
The court also said the government take the views of the stakeholders before passing a legislation in this regard.
The court also explained the modus operandi of online games.
"If X and Y want to play a game, both of them have to bet a sum of Rs 10/- (Say). The winner will get the amount that he put in place, ie, Rs 10/- and in addition to that, he will get an additional sum, say 75 per cent that was put in place by the opponent, being the prize amount. The balance, ie., 25 per cent, will be credited to the account of the particular online gaming site. The loser will lose everything," the court said.
"If a group of persons (say 10) wants to play a game, each one of them have to bet a sum of Rs 10/- (say). At the end of the game, the winner will get his amount as well as 100 per cent of his bet amount, being the prize money.