Taxsutra Special Webinar by ASG N. Venkataraman - Analysing Gameskraft Verdict of Karnataka HC!

Episode Duration:
90 minutes

Episode Background:

On May 12, 2023, in a 325 pages judgment, Karnataka HC quashed the Rs. 21,000 cr. GST Show Cause Notice issued on online gaming (Rummy) company Gameskraft. Delivering the much awaited verdict, the Court ruled that the terms “betting” and “gambling” as per the GST law, do not and cannot include games of skill like Rummy within their ambit. Authoring the landmark judgment, Justice S. R. Krishna Kumar stated that the Revenue's SCN was “nothing but a futile attempt” to “…build up a non-existent case out of nothing which clearly amounts to splitting hairs and clutching at straws…”.

Before the Court, Revenue’s arguments were predominantly based upon the consequence of “betting” in Game of Skill. Revenue argued that once bets are placed, the distinction between Game of Skill and Game of Chance is immaterial. Revenue also contended that for a game to qualify as Game of Skill, will depend on the players' abilities and the game of Rummy being a Game of Skill, is subject to player possessing requisite skills.

What shall the episode cover?

In this context, we present a special episode addressed by Additional Solicitor General and Legal Eagle - Senior Advocate N. Venkataraman, who argued the Gameskraft matter on behalf of Revenue. In this episode, Mr. Venkataraman discussed the powers of High Court under Article 226 given Constitution Bench judgments on the issue, interpretative powers of High Court vis-a-vis judgments rendered by Supreme Court under Article 141 of the Constitution as also distinction between playing for a competition and playing for stakes (based on outcome).