Noting that every mobile phone has become a ‘virtual gambling house’, the Supreme Court has flagged the threat to the State and public health posed by online gaming addiction.“The addiction and depression that stem from indulging in online money gaming and the frequent suicides that are reported would go on to indicate that this poses a widespread public health issue as well,” a Bench of Justice JB Pardiwala and Justice R Mahadevan said, upholding Tamil Nadu and Karnataka laws banning online betting and gambling.“First and foremost, it cannot be denied that there is an involvement of the public at large, throughout the length and breadth of the country, indulging in staking money in online gaming and fantasy gaming. Consequently, the whole online money gaming sector has boomed, and the activity of betting and gambling has been normalised to a large extent,” the Bench said.“Statistics would go on to show that the accessibility of these games is so penetrative that a large number of the players come from rural backgrounds and often from lower income groups. Therefore, it cannot be denied that the public, at large, is involved in online money gaming,” it noted.“With the growth of technology, the mischief that the Public Gambling Act sought to curb i.e. prevent the rise of common gambling houses, has gone completely in vain as every mobile phone is now a virtual common gambling house as well as the instrument of gaming,” the Bench said.“Therefore, in terms of addiction, in terms of monetary losses and in terms of resultant widespread suicides, online money gaming has a definite impact on the public. When such is the case, it has to be recognised that online money gaming has been disturbing the tranquility of the public by making betting and gambling more normalised and accessible. Therefore, public tranquility is breached and consequently, the States would have competence to invoke public order and seek to curb the mischief and restore public tranquility,” the top court said.“In the present case, since betting on games of skill is posing a serious threat to the State and the well-being of the masses, such betting would not enjoy immunity merely because it is taking place on a game of skill,” it said, allowing the appeals preferred by the State of Tamil Nadu and the State of Karnataka stand against judgments passed by the High Court of Madras and the High Court of Karnataka, respectively.“The even tempo of the life of the community is facing hindrance as there is widespread monetary losses as well as addiction. Such losses and addiction are not limited to individuals and have turned out to be common. There are huge repercussions on large sections of the community who have access to a mobile phone and instant payment gateways. These sections of the community often tend to deviate from the ordinary pursuits of life and are drawn into the world of false hope, based on the premise of instant gratification in terms of monetary gain, which normalises their risk appetite,” the Bench said, upholding the states’ legislative competence to curb the mischief that posed a grave threat to public tranquility.Discussing the scope of an ambit of the expression ‘public order’, the Bench said, “Disturbances in the social or economic spheres that shake the orderly functioning of society, including large- scale financial defaults undermining public confidence, may also constitute breach of public order.”