Updated on: Aug 20, 2025 01:56 pm IST
Congress MP Shashi Tharoor said online gaming should be regulated and taxed, warning that a ban would push it underground and benefit criminal networks.
Congress Lok MP Shashi Tharoor on Wednesday said he has not yet studied in detail the bill proposing the removal of the prime minister, chief ministers, and ministers facing serious criminal charges, but he agreed with its core principle.
“As far as I am concerned, I don’t know those bills well enough to give you a comment. On the face of it, it seems reasonable that anyone who does anything wrong should be liable to punishment and should not be holding a high constitutional office or a political office. I think that makes sense,” he said.
On the issue of online gaming, Tharoor said it should be regulated and taxed rather than banned, cautioning that prohibition pushes it underground and benefits criminal networks.
“I have written an article in 2019 that, to my mind, the government should be legalising online gaming and taxing it. If you simply ban it, it goes underground and the mafia makes money from it,” he said.
