TN Guv Ravi at the receiving end for returning Bill proscribing online gambling

Online gambling has claimed the lives of 47 people in Tamil Nadu and the Raj Bhavan returning the Bill, which bans rummy and poker, passed by the Assembly after 142 days has given political parties ammo to attack the governor, reports ETV Bharat's MC Rajan.

Chennai: Continuing the confrontation with the DMK government of MK Stalin, Tamil Nadu Governor RN Ravi has returned the Bill seeking to ban online gambling after sitting over it for close to five months. This has given fresh ammunition to political parties to target the Raj Bhavan for acting against the interest of the public.

Not only the ruling DMK and its allies, but even those in the opposition ranks, barring the BJP and its coalition partner, AIADMK, have condemned the governor for returning the Bill. The state assembly passed the Tamil Nadu Prohibition of Online Gambling and Regulation Bill on October 19 on the recommendation of a panel headed by Justice K Chandru, retired Judge of Madras High Court. Framed under protecting 'public order', it sought to ban rummy and poker and was sent to the Raj Bhavan on October 28. This Bill was to replace an ordinance promulgated earlier which had lapsed.

There was a growing chorus for the governor to give early assent without any delay since 47 persons who were trapped in the web of online gambling had lost huge amounts of money and taken the extreme step of ending their lives. However, Ravi who kept a studied silence on these demands had given an audience to the E-Gaming Federation (EGF) representatives at the Raj Bhavan in December last, fueling speculations of being partisan.

Lack of legislative competence is the reason given by the Governor for returning the Bill. In support of his contention, he referred to the draft amendments to the rules of the IT Act – Intermediary Liability and Digital Media Ethic Code – 2021. The Union IT Ministry invited feedback from the public for the amendments in January this year. This line of reasoning too has been debunked.

State law minister S Reghupathy, hinting at the re-adoption of the Bill, wondered how the governor could return it when the High Court itself had suggested framing fresh legislation. “The court had never said that the legislature doesn't have the competence,” he pointed out. Vociferous in its demand for proscribing online gambling, the Pattali Makkal Katchi (PMK) has countered the governor's rationale.

“Nowhere, the Constitution says that a state assembly does not have the power to enact legislation to ban online gambling. More than 10 states including Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Kerala, and Karnataka have passed such statutes. Madras High Court too has made it clear that the state can pass legislation on the basis of requisite data for skill and chances,” PMK president and former Union Health Minister Anbumani Ramadoss, MP, said in a statement.

“Moreover, Union IT Minister Ashwini Vaishnav had told parliament that there was no bar under the constitution for state legislatures to bring in legislation. State governments could enact laws under 246 of the Constitution,” he recalled and asked Ravi why he had taken such a long time to return the Bill.

“It is the height of arrogance of power by the governor,” was how Marumalarchi DMK (MDMK) leader Vaiko, MP, reacted to the development. VK Sasikala's nephew TTV Dhinakaran, heading the Amma Makkal Munnetra Kazhagam (AMMK), expressed shock at the governor's action and called for a stringent law to prevent deaths due to online gambling.

Senior advocate and PCUL national general secretary V Suresh said “there is a pattern in the non-cooperation of governors in states ruled by parties other than the BJP. It is plain misuse of power. They delay in giving assent to the bills since they have to once it is re-adopted by the assembly.”

Tracing the issue from various cases concerning games involving betting like horse racing, senior journalist K Venkataramanan makes it clear that the supreme court verdicts differentiating skills and chances have to be re-visited in the present context. “The present Bill falls under the ambit of 'Public Order', and Law and Order is a state subject. Unlike in the past when internet penetration was limited, gambling was carried out in the dark alleys, but now, a mobile handset is enough. The governor meeting representatives of the E-Gaming Federation gives rise to the question as to whose interest he is batting for. He need not preclude the validity or legality of the Bill as it is the domain of the judiciary as has happened in neighbouring Karnataka and Kerala.”