Online Gaming Company Urges Madras HC To Issue Notice To TN Crime Branch & CID To Stop Harassing Them For A Suicide Case

On Friday, the Madras High Court ordered the Tamil Nadu police to respond to a petition filed by PlayGames 24x7, an online gaming company, claiming that the crime branch was harassing them in the name of investigating a suicide case. Justice G Chandrasekharan issued the notice, directing the Tamil Nadu government and the crime branch, CID, and metro wing of the Chennai police to respond to the petition by March 14th.

The petitioner has filed a petition with the Madras High Court alleging harassment by the crime branch of the Tamil Nadu police. The company claims that the crime branch has been investigating the suicide of a person named Manikandan, who allegedly died after playing an online game under Section 174 of the Criminal Procedure Code. The crime branch later sent a notice to the company charging it under Section 302 of the Indian Penal Code for Manikandan’s death. It has been asking the company and its employees for irrelevant information and confidential information relating to its operations. The company has cooperated with the probe throughout but claims that the crime branch is constantly harassing the company and its employees.

Furthermore, the petitioner argued that charging the company with murder under Section 302 of the IPC and demanding irrelevant information constitutes an abuse of power on the part of the State agency, in an attempt to achieve indirectly what the State has failed to accomplish directly, namely a ban on online gaming. According to PlayGames, Manikandan last logged onto the company's "rummy circle" on April 6, 2017, almost five years before he died on January 2, 2022.

According to its petition, the crime branch was conducting a fishing expedition.

In response, PlayGames urged the Court to quash the February 24 notice and to stop harassing them.