Rajasthan HC Dismisses Plea Seeking Ban On Online Fantasy Games With Money Stake

BACKGROUND

• A writ petition was filed before the Rajasthan High Court seeking the issuance of directions of the Court to the State Government to regulate or prohibit online games.
• The plea was to prohibit the offering and playing of any online fantasy game and other online games involving "mere skill by putting money at stake in expectation of winning".

SUBMISSIONS

• The Federation of Indian Fantasy Sports (FIFS), while relying on various judgments of various courts, submitted that it has been held serval times that online fantasy sports are different from gambling/betting and are protected under Article 19 of the Constitution.
• The respondent also relied on Draft Self Regulations Guidelines issued by the NITI Aayog and research conducted by IIM Bangalore, that making teams on fantasy sports platforms needs a higher range of skill.

ORDER

• The Court dismissed the plea and stated that the issue mentioned in the present petition had been already covered and decided by this Court in Ravindra Singh Chaudhary V. Union of India &Ors in October 2020, where plea against the game Dream 11 was dismissed.
• The Court also mentioned that the present writ petition was an attempt to review the judgment passed in the Dream 11 case.
• The Court held that the offering of online fantasy sports was according to the rules of FIFS and the prohibition of the same will violate Articles 14 and 19 of the Constitution of India.

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