Supreme Court allows Centre's plea for transfer of petitions against Online Gaming Act to top court

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Monday allowed a plea by the Union government to transfer the petitions challenging the Promotion and Regulation of Online Gaming Act, 2025 from three high courts to the apex court to avoid conflicting verdicts.

A bench of Justices J B Pardiwala and K V Vishwanathan transferred the petitions pending before the Delhi, Karnataka and Madhya Pradesh High Courts, to the apex court court.

The court directed the respective High Courts to transfer entire records with all interlocutory applications filed within one week.

"Let this transfer be done digitally to save time," the bench said, after hearing Solicitor General Tushar Mehta for the Union government and senior advocates C A Sundaram and Arvind Datar for the petitioners.

The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) filed the plea for transfer of three pending cases from the high courts to the apex court.

Due to multiple litigations pending before various High Courts involving same or substantially similar question of law and challenging the vires of the same impugned Act, it is imperative that the same is transferred to this court or any High Court to avoid any divergence of opinions or multiplicity of proceedings, the plea said.

It said after the law got President's assent, multiple petitions were filed in the high courts challenging the validity of the Act.

The law was passed with the objective of promoting and strategically regulating the online gaming sector, while safeguarding citizens from the adverse effects of online money games, and simultaneously encouraging and regulating other forms of online gaming, it said.

The writ petition titled as Head Digital Works Private Limited & Anr Vs Union of India was pending before the Karnataka High Court at Bengaluru, writ petition titled as Bagheera Carrom (OPC) Pvt Ltd Vs Union of India was pending before the Delhi HC and a similar plea titled as Clubboom 11 Sports & Entertainment Private Limited Vs Union of India was pending before the High Court of Madhya Pradesh.

The Promotion and Regulation of Online Gaming Act, 2025 was the first Central legislation imposing a nationwide ban on real-money online gaming, including popular formats such as fantasy sports. The law prohibited offering or playing online money games, regardless of whether they are games of skill or chance, and categorised violations as cognisable and non-bailable offences.

The Bill was introduced in the Lok Sabha on August 20. It was passed within two days by voice vote in both Houses of Parliament and received presidential assent on August 22.