The Supreme Court of India has upheld the bans on online gambling in Tamil Nadu and Karnataka by rejecting ten review petitions against its previous ruling. Justices J.B. Pardiwala and R. Mahadevan announced their decision without convening an open court hearing.
The petitions were filed by several stakeholders, including Junglee Games India, Play Games24x7, Head Digital Works, the All India Gaming Federation, and the Federation of Indian Fantasy Sports. These organizations contested a judgment issued on May 27, 2026, which affirmed that states possess the authority to ban online games with monetary stakes, encompassing skill-based games.
Proponents of the appeal argued that their activities are skill-based and do not constitute gambling, positing that the medium—whether online or offline—does not redefine the essence of the games. However, the Supreme Court dismissed this argument, thereby preserving the earlier ruling.
In a separate legal matter, challenges to India's Promotion and Regulation of Online Gaming Act of 2025 are ongoing but distinct from the current review petitions. This Act came into effect in May 2026. A final hearing regarding these challenges was scheduled by the Supreme Court for October 6 and 7, 2026, although updates on this hearing remain unverified.
While the recent ruling has confirmed the bans in Tamil Nadu and Karnataka, it does not impact ongoing state-level cases related to the same law. The larger legal question surrounding India's central online gaming regulation continues to be separate from these developments.
