After being served with a dozen legal notices threatening legal action for his criticism of real-money gaming services, Vishal Gondal has now been summoned by the Haryana Police based on a police complaint.
Gondal is the founder of healthcare company GOQii and nCore Games, which developed FAU-G. According to the police summons, the case pertains to issues caused to Faridabad resident Ajay Malhotra, following Gondal’s Twitter posts about an article published on MediaNama that was critical of real money gaming services and their practices. Gondal has been asked to appear before the station house officer of Sarai Khwaja Police Station on April 5.
Gondal has denied the allegations and responded stating that his opinion was not aimed at any particular individual or entity, reported MoneyControl. It only aims to convey the pros and cons of easily available technology including games to the public, which if unregulated can have catastrophic effects on society and on the younger generation, Gondal told the publication. He also said that the complaint is a deliberate attempt to harass him. For now, Gondal has sought a copy of the police complaint and asked for a virtual meeting given the pandemic.
In a span of a few days in February Gondal was served with six uncannily similar legal notices from persons based in six different cities in India, threatening him with criminal and civil action for his tweets, specifically those about online rummy. All the notices, served by people claiming to be players of online rummy, threatened Gondal with defamation suits. These notices were soon followed by similar legalnotices from residents of Goa, Patna, Noida (Uttar Pradesh), and Jaipur (Rajasthan), threatening legal action.
In February, after the first receiving the first couple of notice, Gondal had noted that the common language and similar timing of these notices was suspect and seemed to be a concentrated effort by “strong lobbies to stop honest voice” who speak up against the evil of gambling. He said it was possible that proceedings were filed in multiple parts of the country to cause harassment.
Read more
- Six people from different cities have taken offence on Vishal Gondal’s comments on real-money gaming
- In the End, the House Always Wins: State of Real Money Gaming in India
