The Supreme Court on August 04, 2025 took up a batch of Special Leave Petitions (SLPs) challenging the Madras High Court’s June 3, 2025 judgment that upheld the regulations under the Tamil Nadu Prohibition of Online Gambling and Regulation of Online Games Act, 2022 (TNOGA). The court directed that all similar matters be tagged together and posted for further consideration following the outcome of the ongoing hearings in the Gameskraft GST batch.
A bench comprising Justices JB Pardiwala and R. Mahadevan heard senior counsel Aryama Sundaram for the Esports Players Welfare Association (EPWA), which has challenged the Aadhaar-based KYC mandate and time-based access restrictions imposed under the TNOGA RMG regulations. Online real-money gaming companies Junglee Games and Play Games24x7 have filed separate SLPs challenging the same Madras High Court decision. Senior advocate Sajan Poovayya appeared on behalf of Junglee Games and Play Games24x7.
The Supreme Court directed that all similar petitions, including those filed by EPWA, Vikram Kumar, Junglee Games, and Play Games24x7, be tagged and heard together. However, the bench observed that the issues involved in these cases overlap significantly with the ongoing Gameskraft GST batch (involving 93 matters), and a ruling in that matter would have a direct bearing on the constitutional questions raised in the TNOGA petitions.
Accordingly, the court ordered that EPWA’s petition and other similar SLPs be listed after three months, once a judgment is delivered in the Gameskraft batch.
The Supreme Court bench is currently in the midst of final arguments in the Gameskraft GST case, which involves show-cause notices issued to real-money gaming, casino, and fantasy sports platforms for alleged GST shortfall amounting to over ₹1.5 lakh crore. The outcome of that case is widely expected to provide judicial guidance on the treatment of online games of skill under both taxation and regulatory frameworks.
Source from: https://g2g.news/online-gaming-laws/sc-hears-challenge-to-madras-hc-decision-upholding-tnoga-regulations/
