CHENNAI: The Tamil Nadu government will bring fresh legislation to ban online rummy in the state. This follows a directive from chief minister M K Stalin, state law minister S Reghupathy said here on Wednesday. While the development comes in the wake of the Madras high court on Tuesday quashing the existing legislation banning online rummy, the opposition AIADMK has asked the state government to approach the Supreme Court and get a stay on the order.
In a statement, minister Reghupathy said chief minister Stalin, when he was the leader of the Opposition, had demanded a ban on online rummy.

The then AIADMK government had hurriedly passed legislation on November 21, last year, to ban online rummy in the state.

Subsequently, a petition was moved against the legislation in the Madras high court. On Tuesday, the court ruled against the ban and quashed the legislation, citing lack of clarity on why the state introduced a blanket ban on online games. The court had however said there was no bar on the state from bringing fresh legislation, Reghupathy said.

Soon after the court order, Stalin directed those concerned to bring fresh legislation, with ample clarity behind the government’s move, to ban online rummy in the state, Reghupathy said in a statement.

Striking down the law on Tuesday, the first bench of chief justice Sanjib Banerjee and justice Senthilkumar Ramamoorthy said, “The legislation challenged herein has to be regarded as something done by the legislature capriciously, irrationally and without adequate determining principles such that it is excessive and disproportionate…”.

Meanwhile, former state law minister C Ve Shanmugham on Wednesday sought to question the ruling DMK for the laxity on its part that resulted in the Madras high court quashing the legislation. “The AIADMK government brought in the legislation and banned online rummy, following pleas from the public, especially women, and other organizations. A few affected companies approached the court and when the case came up for hearing towards the end of April, it was postponed to June since assembly election had been held in the state,” Shanmugham said.

While the DMK came to power in May, it preferred not to employ efficient lawyers to place counterarguments even as the online companies engaged the best of the lawyers.

“The online companies have already resumed luring youngsters with enticing offers. The DMK government should immediately approach the Supreme Court and obtain a stay against the high court order,” Shanmugham said.