Rummy and poker entrepreneurs in India have high hopes from the litigation that is pending before the Supreme Court of India. They believe that the outcome of such litigation may help them in clearing the legal hurdles that has plagued the online gaming industry of India. However, legal experts believe that online rummy and poker may still be legally risky in India despite a decision by Indian Supreme Court.
Rummy and poker are two of the most favourite games played in India. As the economy progressed, technology added its own charm and convenient to the games of rummy and poker. Concepts like online rummy and online poker have emerged in India just like other jurisdictions.
However, India is still following colonial laws regarding gaming and gambling and they are clearly ill suited for the contemporary times. It has become a common practice that Indian laws are improved and modified by Supreme Court of India instead of our Parliament.
Once again the legality of conducting rummy competitions and plays with involvement of cash has reached the Indian Supreme Court. Rummy and poker enthusiastics are happy with this development as they see a ray of hope in this legal development. They believe that this case may finally help in legalising online rummy and online poker in India.
However, legal experts having extensive knowledge about online gaming and gambling are skeptical about such hope and interpretation. According to Praveen Dalal, managing partner of techno legal ICT law firm Perry4Law, online rummy and online poker would still be illegal in India despite Supreme Court’s favourable decision unless those managing these games comply with various techno legal requirements prescribed by Indian laws.
This seems to be logical as well as the Supreme Court of India is presently not hearing about the legality of online rummy or online poker. In fact, online poker is not even in question as the Supreme Court is analysing the issue from the limited perspective of use of cash for playing rummy in India.
Rummy is a game of skill and everybody is aware of this fact in India. However, there is no judicial precedent in favour of online poker as on date that can be applied at the national level and even the Supreme Court is not going to touch the same.
It seems the best option for online rummy and online poker websites of India is to comply with techno legal laws of India rather than blindly relying upon the skills argument that has limited relevance for deciding the legality of online games like rummy and poker.