Articles 12th Jun 2026
We are pleased to share that our Partner, Supreme Kothari, has authored an article titled ‘𝗦𝘁𝗮𝗸𝗲𝘀, 𝗦𝗸𝗶𝗹𝗹, 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗦𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗿𝗲𝗶𝗴𝗻’𝘀 𝗦𝘄𝗲𝗲𝗽: 𝗔 𝗖𝗿𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗰𝗮𝗹 𝗔𝗻𝗮𝗹𝘆𝘀𝗶𝘀 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗦𝘂𝗽𝗿𝗲𝗺𝗲 𝗖𝗼𝘂𝗿𝘁’𝘀 𝗧𝘄𝗶𝗻 𝗝𝘂𝗱𝗴𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁𝘀 𝗼𝗻 𝗢𝗻𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗲 𝗚𝗮𝗺𝗶𝗻𝗴’, published on Lexology.
The article examines the Supreme Court’s twin judgments delivered on 27 May 2026, one upholding the constitutional validity of state laws prohibiting online real-money gaming, and the other affirming 28% GST on the full stake amount with retrospective effect from 1 July 2017. Supreme analyses these decisions as an integrated judicial matrix, tracing how the constitutional recharacterisation of “betting and gambling” under Entry 34 of List II directly drives the GST outcome on actionable claims.
The article specifically examines the Court’s rejection of the skill-versus-chance distinction for tax purposes, the dismissal of the Gross Gaming Revenue methodology in favour of full-deposit valuation under Rules 31A, 31B and 31C, and the statutory basis on which pre-2023 show cause notices survive under Section 15(1) of the CGST Act. It also considers the open questions arising from the judgment’s retrospectivity holding and the practical enforceability of demands totalling approximately ₹2.5 lakh crore against an industry already legislatively shut down.
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