The Supreme Court of India has rejected 10 review petitions filed against the court’s order confirming the bans on online gambling in two states, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka.
Justices J.B. Pardiwala and R. Mahadevan made the decision without holding a hearing in open court.
The review petitions were lodged by Junglee Games India, Play Games24x7, Head Digital Works, All India Gaming Federation and Federation of Indian Fantasy Sports that called the court’s judgment of 27 May 2026 overturning the High Court’s earlier decision illegal.
The May judgment of the court concluded that states can prohibit online games involving monetary stakes and this includes skill-based games as well. The online gambling companies argued that these games are based on skills and should not be equated with the concept of gambling. They supported this argument saying that the location of the game (online or offline) doesn’t change the basic nature of it.
The Supreme Court ruled against the argument regarding skill games. The dismissal of the review petitions leaves the May judgment unchanged.
Separate challenge to India’s online gambling law
The challenges to India’s Promotion and Regulation of Online Gaming Act of 2025 are distinct from the current review petitions. The implementation of this law commenced at the beginning of May 2026.
The Supreme Court had planned to conduct the final hearing about the challenges to this central law on the 6th and 7th of October 2026, but the current progress of that hearing could not be confirmed.
The results of this case do not affect state-level cases concerning the same law. While the latest ruling leaves the bans in Tamil Nadu and Karnataka intact, the broader legal challenge to India’s central online gaming framework remains a distinct issue.
