Assembly passes Bill to prohibit online and traditional gambling | Patna News
Patna: The state assembly on Tuesday unanimously passed a Bill paving the way for a stricter law to prohibit the widely prevalent, increasingly secretive and diversified forms of traditional and internet-era ‘jua (gaming and betting)’ carried out to earn illegal profits. The proposed law seeks to replace the colonial-era legislation enacted in 1867, which has remained in force in the state for the past 159 years.The Bill empowers police officers to arrest, without warrant, any person found indulging in gaming activities within their jurisdiction, including along public roads and at places frequented by people. Police will also be authorised to conduct searches and produce the accused before the judicial magistrate concerned for framing of charges on the basis of evidence. The Bill also provides for punishment.Called the Bihar Gaming (Prohibition) Bill, 2026, the legislation seeks to facilitate the enactment of a new law that will replace the Public Gaming Act, 1867. The colonial-era law was enforced in the erstwhile Bengal Presidency, from which Bihar — then comprising present-day Jharkhand and Odisha — was carved out in 1912.“The colonial-era Act covered only gaming activities based on playing cards and ‘pasha (dice)’. The new law is more comprehensive and will cover a wide range of computer- and mobile app-based gaming activities, including betting related to sports and fluctuations in the share market, and even those organised by companies and groups,” deputy CM-cum-water resources department minister Vijay Kumar Choudhary said while urging the House to pass the Bill unanimously.Choudhary said the state govt had decided to replace the colonial-era law in line with a Supreme Court ruling and its advisory that state governments should frame such legislation, as the subject falls under the state list.He said the Bill provides for both bailable and non-bailable offences, along with fines and imprisonment ranging from six months to two years, depending on the nature of the offence. Opposition members Rahul Kumar of the RJD and Akhtarul Iman of the AIMIM, who had moved amendments, sought stricter punishment. The House eventually passed the Bill unanimously.
