Delhi high court rules on rummy

Justice Valmiki J. Mehta of the Delhi High Court ruled in favour of rummy club operators this week, finding that playing for small stakes in rummy clubs does not constitute gambling.

The judge adjudicated an appeal by Suresh Kumar, who had earlier been ordered by a lower court to pay damages related to the filing of a false police complaint against the Central Secretariat Club.

Supporting the lower court’s decision, Justice Mehta observed:

“The trial court, in my opinion, also has rightly held that merely because a card game was played in the club premises with small stakes from a few annas to some rupees would not make it gambling as held by the Supreme Court.”

Kumar, a former employee of the club, had complained to the police that organised crime was involved in the club’s operations, allowing illegal gambling to take place. But he failed to prove his allegation in the lower court, which noted that Kumar was “frustrated” as he had been fired by the club over misconduct.

Agreeing with the lower court decision, Justice Mehta said that the police complaint was filed out of Kumar’s frustration at having been removed from the services of the club, and the allegations made by him were not bona fide.

“They were made either as for revenge or to pressurise the high-profile club to take the him back,” the judge said, pointing out that it took two years for Kumar to come forward with his complaint.

Related and similar