Author: Nisha Panwar, pursuing LL.M (Criminal Security Law) from Mody University of science and technology
ABSTRACT Gambling refers to participate in any games or activity in which you pay some money or valuable object in order to win some money. Some of the common forms of gambling are- internet gambling, dices, card games, lotteries, bettings, sports lotteries etc. Gambling have an addictivenature that’s why it is going to become dangerousfor the whole society. Teenagers commit lot of heinous crimes in furtherance of gambling. Recently,in West Bengal, a child spent 36 lakh Rupees in gambling from her mother’sbank account. For the prevention or regulation of gambling this is the high time for our government to take effective measure. INTRODUCTION Gambling is prevalent in the society from the ancient period. During the Mahabharata Period, PANDAVAS lost all their wealth and wives in the game of dice. With the advancement of technology online gaming also developed through worldwide. Initially, it is consideredas a form of entertainment but now a days it results in addiction. Gambling has two forms namely game of skill and game of chance.
Game of skill means a game in which result is determined on the basis of mental or physical skillof the player. For example horse racing, Sudoku quiz, chess golf etc.
Game of chance means a game in which result is determined by some random devices such as playing cards, roulette wheels, numbered balls drawn from a container box. Dr. K.R Lakshmanan v. State of Tamil Nadu,1 Supreme Court held that the game of skill does not fall in the category of gambling as the results depends upon the player’s knowledge, training and experience.
Sec. 12 of the Public Gaming Act, 1867 Provides that any game of skill will not be treated as gambling, but only the game of chance will be treated as gambling.
Dream 11 fantasy Sports:Varun Gamber v. UnionTerritory of Chandigarh Council for Dream 11 Fantasy Sportsexplained that in the game,player selects his team as a manager on the basis of attributes of the players,conditions of pitch,type of match in orderto succeed, that’swhy it is a game of skill and does not fall under the category of game of chance or gambling. LEGAL IMPLICATIONS OF GAMBLING IN INDIA There is no specific law to regulate online gaming in India. During the British Rule, The Public Gaming Act,1867 was enacted to regulate the gambling. Schedule 7- List II (State List) Entry 34 of The Indian Constitution,1950 deals with betting and gambling. Being the matter of the State List, it is the duty of the States to enact their own Laws to regulate Gambling.
Some Stateshave enacted their own Law, while othershave adopted CentralLaw, i.e The Public Gaming Act, 1867. Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Jharkhand, Manipur, Madhya Pradesh, Punjab have adopted central law whereas Andhra Pradesh, Rajasthan, Kerala,Goa, Gujrat, Assam,Maharashtra have enactedtheir own law. Only two States Goa and UT of Daman allow gambling without any restriction.
Sec.69A of IT Act 2000, providedthat for the purpose of security, sovereignty and integrity of India, friendly relations with other states or preventing the commission of any offence states have a power to issue direction for blocking or access to any information through computer resources.
Indian Penal Code- There is no specificprovision for gamblingin I.P.C. Sec.290of I.P.C. deals with all type of public nuisance, whoever commits public nuisance shall be punished with a fine of Rs.200.
DRAWBACK IN INDIANLEGAL SYSTEM
A. Setting advance money limit to control the spending of whole earnings in gambling due to addictive nature.
B. There should be a time limit in online gaming. In China, a person can engage in gaming continuously for 3 hours.
C. Controlling money minded activities of gambling.
D. There should be a Licensing process to startup a gambling business.
E. Children should be prohibited for online gambling because they have a very potential mind.
F.Complete restriction on hazardous gambling apps or activities.
G. There should be a high fee that prevents some sections to playing gambling.
H. Gambling should be a form of entertainment not a money minded business.
I. There should be seperate laws and regulatory bodies for online gaming.
CONCLUSION
Online gambling is going to ruin the society.It is the high time to take effective steps for prevention of gambling.
REFERENCE
Gambling laws and Regulation India 2022- ICLG ttps://iclg.com: Gambling Laws and Regulations.