Karnataka passes bill to ban online gambling

The Karnataka legislative assembly on Tuesday passed a bill to amend the Karnataka Police Act, 1963 to ban all forms of gambling in the state, including online gambling.

The Karnataka Police (Amendment) Bill, 2021 was introduced by Home Minister Araga Jnanendra and was passed amid the opposition’s scepticism of police’s capabilities in tackling new forms of gambling – including online betting on sports, online gaming and poker.

The home minister said that the new law was necessary since it has been increasingly difficult for the police to tackle gambling and betting in the context of a recent order from a bench of the state high court at Dharwad – which has barred the police from carrying out raids on gambling dens.