Chennai: Days after governor R N Ravi returned the bill to ban online gambling in Tamil Nadu, the DMK on Sunday submitted a notice to introduce a calling attention motion in the Lok Sabha to highlight the governor’s “reluctance” to give his assent.
The notice was submitted by DMK parliamentary party leader T R Baalu on behalf of the party and it was confirmed by him. “Yes, I submitted the notice to the Lok Sabha and it will be taken up (for discussion),” Baalu told TOI.
The bill to ban online gambling and regulate online gaming was passed in the state assembly in October last year, following which the governor, in November last, sought clarifications. Law minister S Regupathy had called on the governor at Raj Bhavan and provided the clarifications. The governor returned the bill to the state assembly after four months.
BJP leaders, including Tamil Nadu unit president K Annamalai, who justified the governor returning the bill, argued that banning online gambling was the Union government’s prerogative and the state had no authority to enact a legislation on the subject since cyberspace was part of the Union list.
A senior official in the state government, however, disagreed, saying banning online gambling was well within the state government’s rights. “Betting and gambling are present in entry 34 of the state list and so the state government has the right to enact legislation on the subject,” said the officer.