Karnataka High Court Grants Stay Adverse Action by GST Authorities against Pacific Gaming

The Karnataka High Court bench led by Justice B.M. Shyam Prasad has imposed a stay on any unfavourable steps taken by the GST officials against Pacific Gaming, the operator of the popular online poker platform Pokersaint and the online rummy website GullyRummy.

The decision is consistent with earlier High Court decisions in cases like Deltatech, Delta Corp, and Playerzpot, advising GST authorities not to take any further action.

The court proceedings were presided over by Advocate Aditya Narayan, counsel for the petitioner, who witnessed consideration on the grant of an ad interim order. The Court debated whether an injunction prohibiting further proceedings should be issued until the next scheduled hearing.

The standing counsel, Advocate Amit Anand Deshpande, informed the court that he has yet to have comprehensive instructions on the matter and that the learned ASG, Sri. N. Venkataraman, has been briefed to appear for the same.

Furthermore, the petitioner’s reliance on the orders of the court has been challenged before the Hon’ble Supreme Court, and an interim stay has been granted.

In response, Advocate Aditya Narayan noted the case was before the Supreme Court and expressed concern that if the respondents failed their appeal, the petitioner would be without redress. He contended that, in identical circumstances, other courts had issued interim restrictions preventing any immediate adverse acts.

After a thorough examination, Justice B.M. Shyam Prasad ruled that no unfavourable steps be taken by the GST authorities until the next date of hearing. The court stressed that this ruling does not bar the respondents from objecting to the continuation of this arrangement in future cases.

The petition will be re-listed for further consideration by the court on April 14, 2025.