NEW DELHI – The Supreme Court is likely to hear the Union government’s request on September 8 to combine all of the pending cases that question the constitutionality of the Promotion and Regulation of Online Gaming Act, 2025. The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY), which is part of the government, has sought the Supreme Court to combine cases from the high courts in Karnataka, Delhi, and Madhya Pradesh to stop “conflicting judicial pronouncements.”
Chief Justice of India (CJI) Bhushan R. Gavai consented to an early listing after a government lawyer said the issue was urgent and that orders were due in the Karnataka High Court on September 8. The government’s appeal also asks that all cases in the high courts be put on hold until the Supreme Court makes a decision about the transfer request.
The 2025 Act, which Parliament enacted and the president signed in August, makes it illegal for “real-money online games” and ads for those games to be shown. It imposes harsh penalties, such as up to three years in prison and fines of up to ₹1 crore for service providers and up to two years in prison and fines of up to ₹50 lakh for advertising and promoters. The law, on the other hand, supports e-Sports and casual internet gaming.
The government’s request for a transfer shows that all of the current petitions ask similar and important legal questions. These challenges say that the Act goes against basic rights in Articles 14 (equality before the law), 19(1)(g) (the right to work in any field), and 21 (the right to life and personal freedom) of the Constitution. The petitioners further say that Parliament doesn’t have the power to make such a law because India is a federal country. They also say that the Act doesn’t make a clear distinction between games of skill and games of chance, which courts have done in the past.
The administration wants to move three specific petitions that were submitted by:
Head Digital Works Pvt Ltd (at the Karnataka High Court)
Bagheera Carrom (OPC) Pvt Ltd is in the Delhi High Court.
The Madhya Pradesh High Court is hearing a case involving Clubboom11 Sports & Entertainment Pvt Ltd.
The government, through Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, says that a single, clear verdict from the Supreme Court is needed to make sure the law is clear and to keep the courts from wasting time and money. Mehta has already defended the bill in the high courts, saying that once Parliament passes it and the President agrees to it, it can’t be stopped from going into effect. Mehta also told the Delhi High Court that the government would shortly notify the Act and set up a regulatory authority to make rules and sort games. This was designed to ease worries about the law not being clear.