SC seeks Centre's response on PIL seeking to regulate online betting apps
New Delhi (PTI): The Supreme Court on Friday sought the Centre's response on a PIL seeking to regulate all online and offline betting applications.
A bench of justices Surya Kant and N Kotiswar Singh issued the notice on a plea filed by K A Paul, who claimed that many children committed suicide after getting involved in online betting and gambling applications.
The petitioner also alleged that a lot of online influencers, actors and cricketers were promoting these online apps due to which children were getting lured to betting.
Paul, who appeared in person in the court, said, "I am here on behalf of millions of parents whose children have died in the past couple of years. More than 1,023 people committed suicide in Telangana, as 25 Bollywood and Tollywood actors/influencers played with the lives of the innocents."
He also claimed that an FIR was lodged in Telangana against the influencers, as the matter violated fundamental rights.
The bench said it cannot do much as these were aberrations of society and enactment of law cannot stop people indulging in betting voluntarily.
"What can be done? Principally we are with you that it should be stopped... But probably you are under a misconception that it can be stopped through a law.
"Just like we can't stop people from committing murder, a law cannot prevent people from indulging in betting or gambling," Justice Surya Kant said.
Paul said even former cricketers were promoting these apps due to which a lot of youngsters were indulging in betting.
The bench said it would ask the Centre what it was doing on the issue, as it issued the notice to the Union of India.
It also sought the attorney general and solicitor general's assistance in the matter.
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MP boat tragedy: Death toll rises to 10 with recovery of one more body; 3 tourists still missing
Jabalpur (PTI): The body of a child was retrieved on Saturday evening from Bargi Dam in Jabalpur district of Madhya Pradesh, raising the death toll in the cruise boat tragedy that took place two days ago to ten, while search continued for three missing tourists.
The boat, operated by the state tourism department, capsized during a storm on Thursday evening with some of the survivors alleging negligence and safety lapses such as life jackets not being distributed in time.
The body recovered on Saturday evening was possibly that of six-year-old Viraj Soni, said Sub-Divisional Officer of Police (SDOP) Anjul Ayank Mishra.
"The identity will be confirmed after family members identify the body," he told PTI.
Kamraj, an employee of the Ordnance Factory at Khamaria, his five-year-old son Tamil, and another child Mayuram (5) who had come from southern India were still missing.
Authorities have arranged equipment to search deep waters of the dam and are getting a generator to facilitate diving operations, Mishra added.
Divers and disaster response teams have expanded the search radius to five km, he said.
Of the 41 identified passengers on board the ill-fated vessel, 28 were rescued, police said.
More than 200 rescuers, including around 20 Army divers airlifted from Agra, joined the search operation that resumed at 5 on Saturday morning. The operation, involving the National Disaster Response Force, State Disaster Response Force and local divers, was briefly affected at around 9 am due to strong winds, officials said.
Post-mortem examinations of nine deceased persons have been completed, Mishra said.
"Our priority is to search for the missing persons. We will also register a First Information Report in the case soon," he said.
Police said CCTV footage near the boarding point showed 43 people heading towards the boat while the identities of 41 passengers have been confirmed so far.
The state government on Friday ordered a probe into the tragedy and dismissed three crew members. It also banned operation of similar vessels in the state.
