No. 484]

CHENNAI, SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 21, 2020

Karthigai 6, Saarvari, Thiruvalluvar Aandu–2051

TAMIL NADU

GOVERNMENT GAZETTE

EXTRAORDINARY

PUBLISHED BY AUTHORITY

[Regd. No. TN/CCN/467/2012-14.

GOVERNMENT OF TAMIL NADU

[R. Dis. No. 197/2009.

2020

[Price: Rs. 2.40 Paise.

Part IV—Section 2

Tamil Nadu Acts and Ordinances

Ex-IV-2—484--1

[205]

An Ordinance further to amend the Tamil Nadu Gaming

Act, 1930, the Chennai City Police Act, 1888 and the

Tamil Nadu District Police Act, 1859.

WHEREAS the Legislative Assembly of the State is not

in session and the Governor of Tamil Nadu is satisﬁ ed that

circumstances exist which render it necessary for him to take

immediate action for the purposes hereinafter appearing;

NOW, THEREFORE, in exercise of the powers conferred by

clause (1) of Article 213 of the Constitution, the Governor hereby

promulgates the following Ordinance:—

PART – I.

PRELIMINARY.

1. (1) This Ordinance may be called the Tamil Nadu Gaming

and Police Laws (Amendment) Ordinance, 2020.

Short title and

commencement.

(2) It shall come into force at once.

The following Ordinance which was promulgated by the Governor on the

20th November 2020 is hereby published for general information:—

TAMIL NADU ORDINANCE No. 11 OF 2020.

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TAMIL NADU GOVERNMENT GAZETTE EXTRAORDINARY

PART – II.

AMENDMENTS TO THE TAMIL NADU GAMING ACT, 1930.

Substitution of

sections 2 and 3.

2. In the Tamil Nadu Gaming Act, 1930 (hereinafter in this Part

referred to as the 1930 Act), for sections 2 and 3, the following

sections shall be substituted, namely:—

“2. Extent.— This Act extends to the whole of the State of

Tamil Nadu.

Tamil Nadu Act III of

1930.

3. Deﬁ nitions.— In this Act, unless there is anything

repugnant in the subject or context,—

(a) “common gaming-house” means any house,

room, tent, enclosure, vehicle, vessel, cyber cafe or any place

whatsoever in which instruments of gaming are kept or used

for the proﬁ t or gain of the person owning, occupying, using or

keeping such house, room, tent, enclosure, vehicle, vessel, cyber

cafe or place, whether free of cost or by way of charge for the use

of instruments of gaming or of the house, room, tent, enclosure,

vehicle, vessel, cyber cafe or the place; and includes any house,

room, tent, enclosure, vehicle, vessel, cyber cafe or place opened,

kept or used or permitted to be opened, kept or used for the

purpose of gaming;

(b) “gaming” does not include a lottery, but includes

wagering or betting in person or in cyberspace.

Explanation.— For the purposes of clause (b) and section 3-A,

wagering or betting shall be deemed to comprise the collection or

soliciting of bets, the receipt or distribution of winnings or prizes, in

money or otherwise, including through electronic transfer of funds,

in respect of any wager or bet, or any act which is intended to aid,

induce, solicit or facilitate wagering or betting or such collection,

soliciting, receipt, or distribution;

(d) “instruments of gaming” includes cards, dice,

gaming table or cloth, board, computers, computer system,

computer network, computer resource, any communication device

or any other article used or intended to be used as a subject or

means of gaming, any document or electronic record, used or

intended to be used as a register or record or evidence of any

gaming, the proceeds of any gaming, and any winnings or prizes

in money or otherwise, including through electronic transfer of

funds, distributed or intended to be distributed in respect of any

gaming;

(e) the words ‘computer’, ‘communication device’,

‘computer network’, ‘computer resource’, ‘computer system’,

‘cyber cafe’, and ‘electronic record’ used in this Act shall have

the respective meanings assigned to them in the Information

Technology Act, 2000.

Central Act 21 of

2000.

3-A. Wagering or betting in cyberspace.— (1) No

person shall wager or bet in cyberspace using computers,

computer system, computer network, computer resource, any

communication device or any other instrument of gaming, by

playing Rummy, Poker or any other game.

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TAMIL NADU GOVERNMENT GAZETTE EXTRAORDINARY

(2) Whoever wagers or bets in cyberspace shall be

punished with imprisonment which may extend to two years or

with ﬁ ne not exceeding ten thousand rupees or with both.”.

3. In section 4 of the 1930 Act, in sub-section (1), in clauses

(b), (c) and (d), after the expression “enclosure, vehicle, vessel”,

the expression “cyber cafe” shall be inserted.

Amendment of

section 4.

4. In section 5 of the 1930 Act, in sub-section (1), for the

expression “not inferior to a Judicial Magistrate of the second

class or any police oﬃ cer not below the rank of Deputy

Superintendent of Police”, the expression “or any police oﬃ cer not

below the rank of Deputy Superintendent of Police or Assistant

Commissioner of Police, as the case may be” shall be substituted.

Amendment of

section 5.

5. In section 6 of the 1930 Act, after the expression “Any

cards, dice, gaming table or cloth, board”, the expression

“electronic record, computers, computer system, computer

network, computer resource or any communication device” shall

be inserted.

Amendment of

section 6.

6. In section 8 of the 1930 Act, for the expressions “ﬁ ve

hundred rupees” and “three months”, the expressions “ten thousand

rupees” and “two years” shall, respectively, be substituted.

Amendment of

section 8.

7. In section 9 of the 1930 Act, for the expressions “two

hundred rupees” and “one month”, the expressions “ﬁ ve thousand

rupees” and “six months” shall, respectively, be substituted.

Amendment of

section 9.

8. In section 11 of the 1930 Act, for the expression “sections

5 to 10”, the expression “section 3-A and sections 5 to 10” shall

be substituted.

Amendment of

section 11.

9. In section 12 of the 1930 Act, for the expressions “one

hundred rupees” and “three months”, the expressions “ﬁ ve

thousand rupees” and “six months” shall, respectively, be

substituted.

Amendment of

section 12.

10. After section 13-A of the 1930 Act, the following section

shall be inserted, namely:—

Insertion of new

section 13-B.

“13-B. Oﬀ ences by companies.— (1) Where an oﬀ ence

under this Act has been committed by a company, every person

who, at the time the oﬀ ence was committed, was in-charge of, and

was responsible to, the company for the conduct of the business

of the company, as well as the company, shall be deemed to be

guilty of the oﬀ ence and shall be liable to be proceeded against

and punished accordingly:

Provided that nothing contained in this sub-section shall

render any such person liable to any punishment, if he proves

that the oﬀ ence was committed without his knowledge or that he

had exercised all due diligence to prevent the commission of such

oﬀ ence.

(2) Notwithstanding anything contained in sub-section

(1), where an oﬀ ence under this Act has been committed by a

company and it is proved that the oﬀ ence has been committed

with the consent or connivance of, or is attributable to, any neglect

on the part of any director, manager, secretary or other oﬃ cer of

the company, such director, manager, secretary or other oﬃ cer

shall be deemed to be guilty of that oﬀ ence and shall be liable to

be proceeded against and punished accordingly.

Ex-IV-2—484--2

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TAMIL NADU GOVERNMENT GAZETTE EXTRAORDINARY

Explanation.— For the purposes of this section.—

(a) “company” means any body corporate and

includes a ﬁ rm or other association of individuals; and

(b) “director” in relation to a ﬁ rm, means a partner in

the ﬁ rm.”.

PART – III.

AMENDMENTS TO THE CHENNAI CITY

POLICE ACT, 1888.

Amendment of

section 3.

11. In section 3 of the Chennai City Police Act, 1888

(hereinafter in this Part referred to as the 1888 Act), the deﬁ nitions

of ‘conviction’, ‘imprisonment’, ‘common gaming house’, ‘gaming’

and ‘instruments of gaming’ shall be omitted.

Tamil Nadu Act III of

1888.

Omission of certain

sections.

12. Sections 40-A, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 49-A, 49-B,

50, 51 and 52 of the 1888 Act shall be omitted.

Amendment of

section 79.

13. In section 79 of the 1888 Act, for the expression “English,

Tamil, Telugu and Hindustani”, the expression “English and Tamil”

shall be substituted.

Insertion of new

section 80-A.

14. After section 80 of the 1888 Act, the following section shall

be inserted, namely:—

“80-A. Oﬀ ences by companies.— (1) Where an oﬀ ence

under this Act has been committed by a company, every person

who, at the time the oﬀ ence was committed, was in-charge of, and

was responsible to, the company for the conduct of the business

of the company, as well as the company, shall be deemed to be

guilty of the oﬀ ence and shall be liable to be proceeded against

and punished accordingly:

Provided that nothing contained in this sub-section shall

render any such person liable to any punishment, if he proves

that the oﬀ ence was committed without his knowledge or that he

had exercised all due diligence to prevent the commission of such

oﬀ ence.

(2) Notwithstanding anything contained in sub-section

(1), where an oﬀ ence under this Act has been committed by a

company and it is proved that the oﬀ ence has been committed

with the consent or connivance of, or is attributable to, any neglect

on the part of any director, manager, secretary or other oﬃ cer of

the company, such director, manager, secretary or other oﬃ cer

shall be deemed to be guilty of that oﬀ ence and shall be liable to

be proceeded against and punished accordingly.

Explanation.— For the purposes of this section.—

(a) “company” means any body corporate and

includes a ﬁ rm or other association of individuals; and

(b) “director” in relation to a ﬁ rm, means a partner in

the ﬁ rm.”.

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TAMIL NADU GOVERNMENT GAZETTE EXTRAORDINARY

PART – IV.

AMENDMENT TO THE TAMIL NADU DISTRICT

POLICE ACT, 1859.

Central Act XXIV of

1859.

15. In the Schedule to the Tamil Nadu District Police Act,

1859, the expressions “Deﬁ nition of ‘imprisonment’, ‘gaming’,

‘Instruments of gaming’, ‘common gaming-house’ and ‘conviction’

in section 3” and “48, 50,” shall be omitted.

Omission of certain

expressions.

20th November 2020.

BANWARILAL PUROHIT,

Gover nor of Tamil Nadu.

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EXPLANATORY STATEMENT

Gaming by means of cards, dice etc., in the form of betting or wagering has been banned in the cities of

Chennai, Madurai, Coimbatore, Salem, Tiruchirappalli and Tirunelveli by the Chennai City Police Act, 1888

(Tamil Nadu Act III of 1888) read with Tamil Nadu Act 32 of 1987 and Tamil Nadu Act 51 of 1997 and in

the rest of the State by the Tamil Nadu Gaming Act, 1930 (Tamil Nadu Act III of 1930). Playing games

like Rummy, Poker etc., using computers or mobile phones, for money or other stakes, which are addictive

in nature, have developed manifold, in the recent times. As a result, innocent people get cheated and

incidents of suicide are reported. In order to prevent such incidents of suicide and protect the innocent

people from the evils of online gaming, it has been decided to ban wagering or betting in cyberspace by

suitably amending the relevant enactments. Accordingly, the Government have decided to amend

the Tamil Nadu Gaming Act, 1930 (Tamil Nadu Act III of 1930) and extend its application throughout the

State for the purpose and to make consequential amendments to the Chennai City Police Act, 1888

(Tamil Nadu Act III of 1888) and the Tamil Nadu District Police Act, 1859 (Tamil Nadu Act XXIV of 1859).

2. The Ordinance seeks to give eﬀ ect to the above decision.

(By order of the Governor)

C. GOPI RAVIKUMAR,

Secretary to Government,

Law Department.

PRINTED AND PUBLISHED BY THE COMMISSIONER OF STATIONERY AND PRINTING, CHENNAI

ON BEHALF OF THE GOVERNMENT OF TAMIL NADU