A court in India has declined an activist’s request to shut online gambling sites, while asking for government input on how to deal with the rise of so-called ‘skill-based’ games.

On Wednesday, the Delhi High Court ruled against a request by a local activist seeking to shut down websites offering ‘games of skill’ under legislation approved several years ago in the state of Nagaland. Local media quoted a bench of Chief Justice Rajendra Menon and Justice Brijesh Sethi declaring: “No interim relief. Let it go on.”

However, while refusing immediate intervention, the Court requested further input from the Central government as well as from the Reserve Bank of India to determine the legality of the websites in question, which include not only India-based sites but also internationally licensed operators such as Betway, Dafabet and 1xBet.

Wednesday’s ruling came following a public interest litigation (PIL) filed last week by local activist Avnish Mehrotra, who sought to “bring illegal and illicit online gambling/betting/wagering/gaming to an end.” The activist claimed that poker, sports betting and fantasy sports products offered by the offending websites failed to meet the definition of a ‘skill game’ since they involved little to no skill on the part of the customer.