Bagheera Carrom has moved the Delhi High Court against the new 2025 Online Gaming Act that bans all real-money games. The company argues the law is unconstitutional and violates fundamental rights.
New Delhi: Bagheera Carrom (OPC) Private Limited, the company running an online carrom platform, has gone to the Delhi High Court against the newly passed Promotion and Regulation of Online Gaming Act, 2025. This new law puts a complete ban on all online games involving real money, whether they are games of skill or chance.
The matter came up briefly before a Bench led by Chief Justice Devendra Kumar Upadhyaya and Justice Tushar Rao Gedela.
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During the hearing, Chief Justice Upadhyaya pointed out that the Central government has not yet set up an authority to implement the new gaming law, even though the Act also talks about encouraging electronic games that do not involve money.
The Chief Justice told the government,
“Until you constitute the authority and promulgate the rules, you will not be able to work on the act.”
On behalf of the Central government, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta defended the law, saying that it was passed keeping in mind the larger public interest. He explained that online money-based games are dangerous and can harm society.
Mehta said,
“We are in the process of making rules and constituting the authority also. The government is promoting online gaming, but online money game results in addiction of children, suicide.”
The Bench has now listed the matter for further hearing after eight weeks.
The Promotion and Regulation of Online Gaming Act, 2025 was cleared by both Houses of Parliament and got the President’s approval last month. However, the Act has not yet officially come into effect as it is waiting to be notified.
The law bans all online money games and even makes it a criminal offence to either offer or play such games. These offences have been classified as cognisable and non-bailable.
Bagheera Carrom has strongly opposed the law. In its plea, it argued that the Act was passed in a rush and without proper consultation with stakeholders.
The company said that such an approach has led to a violation of fundamental rights under the Constitution. Bagheera pointed out that the Act does not make any difference between games of chance and games of skill, banning everything across the board.
According to Bagheera, its online carrom platform is purely skill-based. Carrom has already been legally recognised by courts as a game of skill, and it is officially regulated offline by the All India Carrom Federation and internationally by the International Carrom Federation.
The company said it has invested huge amounts to make sure its platform followed all earlier laws and guidelines on online gaming.
It even got certification from the E-Gaming Federation, which confirmed that its platform is based on skill and does not involve betting or gambling.
Bagheera told the Court that despite these measures, the new law would now put the company at risk of criminal cases and financial collapse.
The company argued that the Act wrongly takes over powers that belong to State legislatures because subjects like “betting and gambling” and “sports, entertainment, and amusements” fall under the State List in the Constitution.
Therefore, the company said, the 2025 Act should be struck down as unconstitutional, arbitrary, vague, disproportionate, and violative of Articles 14, 19, and 21 of the Constitution.
In case the Court does not strike it down completely, Bagheera also suggested that the Court could read down the law so that skill-based games involving money continue to remain legal.
The plea on behalf of Bagheera Carrom was filed by advocates Harsh Jaiswal, Aadya Mishra, Geetika Vyas, and Ranjan Mishra.
This new law is facing challenges in other courts as well. In the Karnataka High Court, a similar petition has been filed by Head Digital Works Private Limited, one of the largest operators in the online gaming sector.
The Karnataka High Court will be taking up that case on September 8.
Case Title:
Bagheera Carrom (OPC) Pvt. Ltd. v. Union of India.
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