India continues to crack down on gambling as courts beg for clarity

With this years’ Diwali now in the past, Indian authorities are already worried about gambling activity leading up to the January festival of Sankranti. Police are on the lookout for gambling dens, cockfights, online gambling and celebrities getting their beak wet.

In the port city of Visakhapatnam, police are already on the lookout for cockfights. While authorities told the Times of India that cockfighting is not as prevalent in Northern Andhra Pradesh, where Visakhapatnam is located, they’re having a hard time cracking down on the activity as organizers are pretty good at staying mobile.

They may need to keep an eye online as well. In the Philippines, cockfight gambling gained popularity this year thanks to Covid-19 restrictions, forcing the government to consider regulating it and taxing it to help fund their relief efforts.

That doesn’t seem like the solution some Indian provinces will want to go for. The Madras high court is seeking guidance from the Tamil Nadu government on online gambling. A rash of recent suicides related to online gambling debts have them anxious about the legal status of the activity, especially in light that chief minister Edappadi K Palaniswami has said some kind of ban may be coming.