On 26th October, a bench of Karnataka High Court consisting of Chief Justice Ritu Raj Awasthi and Justice Sachin Shankar Magadum observed that when there is in existence a legislation under the Karnataka Police Act, which specifically bans all online gambling and betting and also provides for a punishment extending to three years of imprisonment and penalty upto 1 lakh rupees then in such circumstances any PIL seeking remedy regarding the same subject matter becomes infructuous.
The writ petition was filed seeking a writ of Mandamus to direct the respondent-State of Karnataka to ban all forms of Online Gambling and Online Betting of any nature until and unless an appropriate regulatory regime is established and regulations are framed by respondent regulating the functions and activities of all forms of Online Gambling and Online Betting.
The order of the court came following the submission of Learned Additional Advocate General stating that the State Government had made an amendment in the Karanataka Police Act which band online betting and gambling and also provides for appropriate punishment regarding the same therefore the present petition is infructuous.
The learned counsel for the petitioner also agreed to the submission of the Additional Advocate General that the petition had now become infructuous in the view of the recent amendment in the Karnataka Police Act.
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