India, June 3 -- The Madras High Court has upheld the Tamil Nadu government's recent regulations on the real money gaming (RMG) sector, dealing a blow to several gaming firms such as Play Games 24x7, Junglee Games and WinZO that had challenged the rules.

A division bench comprising Justices SM Subramaniam and K Rajasekar dismissed all the writ petitions filed by a host of RMG companies arguing that only the Centre can regulate online games under the IT Act.

The bench ruled that the state is within its rights to legislate on matters of public health and trade within its borders. This includes regulating games of skill when played for money.

The key issue was whether Tamil Nadu could impose rules like banning online real money games betw...