REGULATING THE WAGER: SPORTS BETTING AND GAMBLING LAW IN INDIA
LEGAL DEFICIENCIES, JUDICIAL TRAJECTORIES, AND THE IMPERATIVE FOR REFORM
AUTHOR – V ANBARASAN* & D ROHAN KUMAR**
* STUDENT AT VELS INSTITUTE OF SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY & ADVANCED STUDIES (VISTAS)
** ASSISTANT PROFESSOR AT SCHOOL OF LAW, VELS INSTITUTE OF SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY AND ADVANCED STUDIES (VISTAS)
BEST CITATION – V ANBARASAN & D ROHAN KUMAR, REGULATING THE WAGER: SPORTS BETTING AND GAMBLING LAW IN INDIA, INDIAN JOURNAL OF LEGAL REVIEW (IJLR), 6 (7) OF 2026, PG. 773-781, APIS – 3920 – 0001 & ISSN – 2583-2344.
Abstract
Sports betting and gambling in India occupy an uneasy intersection of colonial inheritance, constitutional complexity, and digital disruption. This article examines the manifold inadequacies of the existing Indian regulatory framework — anchored in the anachronistic Public Gambling Act 1867 — and traces the judiciary’s evolving jurisprudence on the skill-chance distinction as it has been applied to fantasy sports and online gaming. Drawing on comparative analysis of regulatory models in the United Kingdom, Australia, and the United States, the article argues that India’s continued adherence to a prohibitionist approach is counterproductive and that a coherent, evidence-based regulatory framework is urgently required. The article concludes with specific legislative, institutional, and consumer-protection recommendations, including the enactment of framework gambling legislation and the creation of an independent National Gambling Regulatory Authority.
Keywords: Sports Betting, Public Gambling Act 1867, Skill-Chance Dichotomy, Online Gaming, Fantasy Sports, Gambling Regulation, Law Reform, India