Gururajan, an engineer working in an IT company in Perungudi, Chennai, took his own life after suffering financial losses from online rummy, reported Tamil Samayam. Gururajan is from Villupuram district and reportedly surrendered to the pressure of increasing debts he experienced through online gambling. The police are currently investigating the incident.
Tamil Nadu government has been trying to regulate online rummy through the Tamil Nadu Online Gambling Prohibition and Regulation Act. The Act was passed by the Tamil Nadu government on October 19, 2022, banning and regulating online rummy games and sending it to Governor R N Ravi for his approval. However, the Governor returned the bill to the government on March 6. The bill was again passed in the Assembly on March 23 and sent to the Governor for approval for a second time. The law was approved by the Governor on April 10 last year. Following its approval, the law was enacted, prohibiting and regulating online rummy games in the state.
The online companies approached the Chennai High Court against this. Subsequently, the law was banned.
Dr. Anbumani Ramadoss, a leader of the Pattali Makkal Katchi (PMK), expressed his condolences to Gururajan’s family and condemned the impact of online rummy on individuals’ lives. He highlighted the need for the Tamil Nadu government to address the issue effectively and prevent further loss of innocent lives. He wrote in X – “Gururajan is the fourth victim of online gambling after the Madras High Court on November 10 last year ruled that the Tamil Nadu Prohibition of Online Gambling Act did not apply to games based on skills like rummy and poker.”
Ramadoss called attention to the Madras High Court’s ruling, which deemed the Tamil Nadu Prohibition of Online Gambling Act inapplicable to skill-based games like rummy and poker. With the Madras High Court ruling that it cannot ban online rummy, which has claimed many lives in Tamil Nadu, the only solution now is to appeal to the Supreme Court and get a ban on it. Expressing disappointment over the government’s apparent inaction, he stressed the importance of appealing to the Supreme Court to reinstate the ban on online rummy.
While the Supreme Court has agreed to hear the Tamil Nadu government’s appeal against the Madras High Court’s verdict, the delay in scheduling the hearing has raised concerns. Ramadoss urged the state government to expedite the legal proceedings and secure a stay on the High Court’s decision, emphasizing the importance of addressing the consequences of online gambling.