BEYOND THE GAMBLING SHADOW: RETHINKING THE LEGAL STATUS OF PROFESSIONAL E-SPORTS IN INDIA THROUGH A SUI GENERIS REGULATORY FRAMEWORK
AUTHOR – NAMIT GUPTA, BBA LLB (HONOURS) CANDIDATE, SCHOOL OF LAW, CHRIST (DEEMED TO BE UNIVERSITY), PUNE LAVASA CAMPUS
BEST CITATION – NAMIT GUPTA,BEYOND THE GAMBLING SHADOW: RETHINKING THE LEGAL STATUS OF PROFESSIONAL E-SPORTS IN INDIA THROUGH A SUI GENERIS REGULATORY FRAMEWORK, INDIAN JOURNAL OF LEGAL REVIEW (IJLR), 6 (8) OF 2026, PG. 327-335, APIS – 3920 – 0001 & ISSN – 2583-2344. DOI – https://doi.org/10.65393/IJLRV6I832
ABSTRACT
India’s professional e-sports industry — commanding over 500 million gamers and generating billions in annual revenue — remains ensnared in a nineteenth-century gambling law framework never designed to regulate it. This paper critically examines the structural mismatch between the Public Gambling Act, 1867’s ‘Skill vs. Chance’ Predominance Test and the cognitive, psychomotor, and strategic demands of modern competitive e-sports. Drawing on doctrinal analysis of landmark Indian jurisprudence — from State of Bombay v. R.M.D. Chamarbaugwala (1957) to the contested Promotion and Regulation of Online Gaming Act, 2025 (PROGA) — and a comparative survey of governance models in South Korea, Germany, and France, this paper argues that the continued application of gambling law to competitive e-sports constitutes a ‘category error’ that suppresses constitutional rights, denies player welfare protections, and undermines India’s geopolitical interests in the global digital economy. The paper proposes the adoption of a sui generis ‘Code of Conduct’ framework anchored in a dedicated E-Sports Act, establishing a National E-Sports Governing Authority (NEGA) with statutory powers over tournament licensing, player welfare standards, and integrity enforcement. This framework is argued to be not merely desirable but constitutionally required under Articles 14, 19(1)(g), and 21 of the Constitution of India.
Keywords: E-sports regulation, Skill vs. Chance doctrine, Public Gambling Act 1867, PROGA 2025, sui generis framework, player welfare, NEGA, Indian gaming jurisprudence, competitive gaming, sports law.