The High Court on Sunday directed the government and law enforcing agencies to form a seven-member committee to investigate the operation of online gambling platforms, identify the platforms, and the persons and celebrities involved in the platforms.
The committee would also have to investigate how the gamblers pay operators for taking part in gambling, examine the extent to which gambling advertisements have spread, and celebrity endorsements of online gambling across social and mainstream media platforms.
The respondents to the rule include the secretaries to the ministries of posts, telecommunications and information technology, information, cultural affairs, Public Security Division of the home ministry, chair of the Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC), inspector general of police, and the head of Bangladesh Financial Intelligence Unit.
The committee can take expert opinions if they deem necessary to prepare the report.
The committee has been ordered to submit its report within 90 days.
The bench of Justice Fatema Najib and Justice Sikder Mahmudur Razi after hearing a public interest litigation writ petition filed by Tanjim Rafeed as a concerned citizen.
In its latest ruling, the High Court also issued a rule that has asked the government and police to explain in four weeks why their inaction in preventing the operation and promotion of online gambling, including advertisements and endorsements by celebrities, should not be declared illegal under Article 18(2) and Article 31 of the constitution as well as under the Public Gambling Act, 1867 and Section 92 of the Dhaka Metropolitan Police Ordinance, 1976.
The court has further asked why the authorities should not be ordered to immediately stop the operation and spread of online gambling and betting platforms, and remove all related advertising content.
The respondents have been asked to reply to the rule.
Supreme Court lawyer Mahim Rahman, representing the petitioner, argued that online gambling has become a public nuisance and is contributing to financial crimes, including money laundering.
He submitted that large sums of money are being illegally siphoned abroad through such gambling platforms, pointing out that gambling and betting are prohibited under existing laws and the constitution.
Earlier, two High Court benches prohibited indoor gambling, including housie, card games, and dice games for money, at 13 social clubs across the country.
One of the benches, in a verdict on February 11, 2020, declared all forms of聽 gambling illegal nationwide. It also directed the government to take action against both organisers and gamblers.
The HC bench of Justice Sheikh Hassan Arif and Justice Md Mahmud Hasan Talukder delivered the order while disposing of a writ petition filed by two Supreme Court lawyers in 2016.
The court ordered law enforcing agencies to immediately seize all the equipment used in gambling wherever they were found.
It observed that games based on 鈥榗hance鈥� or 鈥榣uck鈥� rather than 鈥榮kill鈥� were considered gambling. It further ruled that games like housie, dice, and one-ten depended on chance and were, therefore, illegal.
The court went on to state that games like three cards, flash, and housie were illegal both in cities and outside, and that participants were offenders under the law.
It also said that clubs where such gambling took place were considered public places, as outsiders could access them.
The 2016 writ petition had challenged the legality of indoor gambling at 13 clubs in five cities.
Later, on July 11, 2023, another High Court bench -- comprising Justice KM Kamrul Kader and Justice Mohammad Showkat Ali Chowdhury -- directed the chairman of the Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission to block access to all visible online gambling websites.
The court also asked the Bangladesh Bank governor to instruct all mobile financial service providers, including bKash, Nagad, and Rocket, to prevent gamblers from using their payment gateways for transactions.
These directives came during the hearing of a public interest litigation writ petition filed in December 2022 by Miftaul Alam and Sumit Kumar Sarkar.
Supreme Court lawyer Mahin Rahman told 抖阴精品 that the fresh petition was filed as online gambling has continued to rise due to the non-compliance with earlier court directives and verdicts.