Author: Intern - Ujjawal Bhargava
A bill titled ‘The Tamil Nadu Gaming and Police Laws (Amendment) Act, 2021’ (“the Bill”) was introduced in the Legislative Assembly of the State of Tamil Nadu in February, 2021. The main objective of the said bill is to ban wagering or betting in cyber space by amending the Tamil Nadu Gaming Act, 1930 (“the Act”) and extending its application throughout the state. Keeping that objective in mind the bill introduces new sections to substitute certain existing sections in the Act and also prescribes the punishment for wagering or betting in cyberspace.
Section 2 is substituted to extend the application of the Act to the whole state of Tamil Nadu. Further, Section 3 is substituted to introduce certain definitions in the Act. It defines gaming to include any game which involves wagering or betting either in person or in cyberspace. However, it does not include a lottery.
Moreover, no person shall wager or bet in cyberspace and play games like Rummy, poker or any other games by using computers, computer resources or any other instrument of gaming. Also, no person shall either facilitate or organize any such wager or bet in cyberspace. It also prescribes the punishment if any person is found indulging in any of the above-mentioned activities. The Bill states that any person who wagers or bets or facilitates or organizes such wager or bet, shall be punished with imprisonment not exceeding two years or with fine of upto ten thousand rupees or with both.
Further, the Bill also inserts Section 13-B in the Act. It provides that if an offence is committed by a company under this Act, every person who was in charge of the business of the company, as well as the company at the time of the offence being committed, shall be deemed to be guilty of the offence committed and shall be held liable. However, if any such person in-charge proves that the offence was committed without his knowledge or that he had exercised all due diligence to prevent the commission of such offence, shall not be held liable for such offence. Also, where an offence under this Act has been committed by a company and it can be proved that such offence has been committed with the consent of the director, manager or any other officer, or such offence can be attributable to any neglect of the director, manager or any other officer, such officer shall be deemed guilty of the offence.
The introduced bill can be accessed at: http://www.stationeryprinting.tn.gov.in/extraordinary/2021/63_Ex_IV_1_E.pdf.
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