A PIL has been filed in Madras High Court which seeks a direction to shut down online gaming sites and to arrest and prosecute promoters and its brand ambassadors mentioning Virat Kohli and Tamannah , as per a report by The News Minute.
According to the report, the petition was filed after the recent death of a youngster in Chennai who died by suicide. The suicide note mentions that he was addicted to gambling and that he lost his savings and additional money he got from his employer on an online gambling app.
The petitioner AP Suryaprakasham who is an advocate at the Madras High Court also seeks direction to arrest and prosecute Indian Cricket team Captain Virat Kohli and actor Tamannaah for endorsing the online gaming app.
In his PIL, Suryaprakasham states that their role has been in abetting youngsters to gamble online and that according to the law, both playing and abetment to play gambling is a criminal offence.
When queried about the rationale for arresting and prosecuting Kohli and Tammanah since they are only brand ambassadors, Suryapraksham told news agency IANS that gambling is evil and they are a major influencing factor as they were promoting it. He added that as a matter of fact, the newly Consumer Protection Act has a provision for false advertisements the brand ambassadors are responsible, the report said.
In the petition Suryaprakasham had said online gambling sites are more dangerous than the Blue Whale game since, in the former, the victim not only spends their money but also spends their family members’ money, putting them in a financial burden.
He said that the Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court suo motu took up a case against the Blue Whale game and directed the government to ban it.
“After losing heavily and unable to raise any further resources within their house, these youngsters are forced to borrow money at an exorbitant rate of interest, and in some cases, they go to the extent of committing a crime to raise money to gamble. Subsequently, when they are not able to return or repay the debt they die by suicide,” Suryaprakasham said in his plea.
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