Law Commission recommends legalisation of regulated gambling and sports betting
The Law Commission of India (“LCI”) released its 276th report on Legal Framework: Gambling and Sports Betting including in Cricket in India yesterday. (“Report”).
In the Report, the LCI has recommended the legalisation of regulated betting and gambling activities, noting that a complete blanket ban on such activities has not been generating the desired results.
The Report states that the arguments in favour of gambling and betting activities clearly outweigh those that suggest that these activities are immoral. The Law Commission further observed that it was is not possible to prevent gambling and betting activities completely, and hence, the only viable option that remains is to effectively regulate them. It has been suggested to the Parliament and State legislatures that the regulation of gambling will make it possible to detect fraud and money laundering, etc. The Commission has recommended a three-pronged approach, should the Parliament and/or state legislatures wish to proceed in this direction. These include, “reforming the existing gambling (lottery, horse racing) market, regulating illegal gambling and introducing stringent and overarching regulations.”
Gamechanger Law Advisors will be analysing the Report through multiple posts over the period of next week. Stay tuned!