NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Tuesday deferred to November hearing on petitions filed by gaming companies challenging the law that banned money gaming.
A bench of Justices J.B. Pardiwala and K.V. Viswanathan heard the matter briefly and said it would be taken up after the Diwali vacation.
Lawyers representing gaming companies, including lead petitioner Head Digital Works Private Ltd, sought interim relief, arguing that the law had shut down their businesses completely, forcing layoffs.
“This has national ramifications. We are in a position where our business is completely closed. There’s no avenue to function, and employees have been laid off. It’s a huge issue for us,” senior advocate C.A. Sundaram told the court.
Additional solicitor general N. Venkataraman noted that there might be an overlap between the fresh petitions challenging the constitutionality of the new law and the earlier case on the 28% GST on online gaming, where the court had heard arguments extensively and reserved judgment.
“The overlap is on this ground. Councils who argued those matters did so vehemently. Only the Union has powers; now the councils are arguing that the Union has no powers,” he added.
It is to be noted that the bench led by Justice J.B. Pardiwala only heard and reserved the judgment in the 28% GST matter earlier.
