Enact ordinance without delay, says Anbumani

CHENNAI: PMK president Anbumani Ramadoss on Saturday asked the state government to promulgate an ordinance for banning online gambling without delay.

Citing the death of armed reserve constable Kalimuthu of Coimbatore who fatally shot himself after losing Rs 10 lakh in online gambling, Anbumani expressed his condolences and said the death of constable Kaliumuthu was second in a week and 26th in the last 11 months.

Wondering how many innocent lives will Tamil Nadu government sacrifice to online gambling, the PMK president, in a series of messages posted on his official Twitter handle, asked why the state government has not promulgated an ordinance banning online gambling even 20 days after the expert committee tabled its report on the same. Reminding the government of its assurance to ban online rummy, Ramadoss junior said, “Online gambling will spoil Tamil Nadu. Lakhs of families will be pushed to penury. To prevent such a dire situation, the Tamil Nadu government must make efforts to promulgate the ordinance without delay.” The expert committee led by retired Madras HC judge K Chandru had submitted its report on banning online gambling nearly three week ago. The PMK had organised a statewide agitation demanding a law to ban online gambling. An earlier law enacted by the previous AIADMK regime was struck down by the Madras High Court for want of data.