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The Supreme Court of India is considering whether sports betting and gambling could be allowed legally in India, reports the Times of India. Currently, online betting and gambling is outlawed and can attract a fine and imprisonment for individuals running a gambling house.

Under the Constitution of India, state governments are empowered to frame laws in respect of gaming and betting in their respective states. Currently, only horse racing, lotteries conducted by state governments and casinos in certain states are permissible. State governments have declared any activity which involves “gambling” or “gaming” illegal under the Public Gambling Act, 1867.

However, the state of Sikkim has issued online gambling licences in 2010 but only but over an intranet, blocking access from the rest of India. The state government of Sikkim has authorized four gaming and lottery licenses – to Sugal & Damani Group, Future Gaming Group and Essel Group’s Playwin and Golden Gaming. Note that only three states allow casinos in India – Goa, Daman and Sikkim.

The SC said that it will take up the public interest litigation as part of reforms in Cricket and petitioners argued that the legalized betting and gambling in sports would curb match-fixing and generate revenue for the government. Currently, there are a number of websites offer bets on Cricket matches.

The BBC points out that there even though there are no online betting operators based out of India, a lot people have registered accounts with offshore firms and operators are using this to set up offshore betting companies.