IS ONLINE CRICKET BETTING LEGAL?
The Public Gambling Act, 1867 prohibits offline gambling. Betting as such is illegal business conducted in India. Hence online betting is also not legal.
Definition of Gambling
According to List II Entry 34 of the Constitution of India-
“‘gambling’ includes any activity or undertaking whose determination is controlled or influenced by chance or accident and any activity or undertaking which is entered into or undertaken with consciousness of the risk of winning or losing (eg, prize competitions, a wagering contract) … where there is no actual transfer of goods but only payment or receipt of the difference according to the market price, which varies from the contract price.”
In short Gambling is an activity where chance decides the result more than the skill. Hence cricket betting is also a gambling and hence illegal. No bank will support such a financial activity Horse racing is the only legalized gambling sport in India.
Though there are no specific laws which prohibit internet cricket betting/predictions, a wider interpretation of the existing provisions of the IT Act, 2000 will certainly prohibit the same.
Section 67 of the Information Technology Act 2000 is extracted below
Section 67: Publishing of information which is obscene in electronic form:
Whoever publishes or transmits or causes to be published in the electronic form, any material which is lascivious or appeals to the prurient interest or if its effect is such as to tend to deprave and corrupt persons who are likely, having regard to all relevant circumstances, to read, see or hear the matter contained or embodied in it, shall be punished on first conviction with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to five years and with fine which may extend to one lakh rupees and in the event of a second or subsequent conviction with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to ten years and also with fine which may extend to two lakh rupees.
Quoted below is the rule 3 of the Information Technology (Intermediaries guidelines) Rules, 2011.
Due diligence to he observed by intermediary — The intermediary shall observe following due diligence while discharging his duties, namely: —
(1) The intermediary shall publish the rules and regulations, privacy policy and user agreement for access-or usage of the intermediary’s computer resource by any person.
(2) Such rules and regulations, terms and conditions or user agreement shall inform the users of computer resource not to host, display, upload, modify, publish, transmit, update or share any information that —
(a) belongs to another person and to which the user does not have any right to;
(b) is grossly harmful, harassing, blasphemous defamatory, obscene, pornographic, paedophilic, libellous, invasive of another’s privacy, hateful, or racially, ethnically objectionable, disparaging, relating or encouraging money laundering or gambling, or otherwise unlawful in any manner whatever;
(c) harm minors in any way;
(d) infringes any patent, trademark, copyright or other proprietary rights;
(e) violates any law for the time being in force;
(f) deceives or misleads the addressee about the origin of such messages or communicates any information which is grossly offensive or menacing in nature;
(g) impersonate another person;
Hence an Internet Service Provider can definitely block a gambling site based on the above guidelines. A broad interpretation of the above provision will certainly make online cricket betting an offence and hence illegal.