India, June 3 -- The Madras high court on Tuesday said the fundamental right to privacy is not absolute and that the state has to prevent social harm, as it dismissed petitions challenging the Tamil Nadu Online Gaming Authority (Real Money Games) Regulations, 2025.

Online gaming companies challenged the regulations, mandating a "blank hour" midnight to 5am ban on gaming and an Aadhaar-based user verification system.

A bench of justices SM Subramaniam and K Rajasekar said the regulations amounted to "reasonable restrictions" that govern all fundamental rights. It added that a user's fundamental right to privacy cannot be considered absolute and needs to be balanced with public interest. "When put on a scale, public interest overweighs th...