New developments impacting legal questions around games of skill like online poker has prompted the Delhi High Court to accede to requests to withdraw a case against Adda52, an online poker operator owned by Gaussian Networks.
Justice Indermeet Kaur said that recent developments, including the withdrawal of the rummy for stakes case; favourable decisions for poker by the Calcutta and Karnataka High Courts; and recent legislation passed by the Nagaland legislative assembly recognising that games of skill can be commercially played affirmatively answered the questions raised in the initial petition.
Our readers will recall that Gaussian Networks challenged a 2012 finding by a district court that online poker for stakes was illegal.
Indian legal observers opined that the setting aside of the lower court’s finding constitutes a positive development for the skill games industry in general, and that when viewed against other recent positive developments such as partial acknowledgement of poker by several courts, it is becoming clear that the courts will continue to uphold the legality of games of skill.