The Bombay High Court on Wednesday has sought information from the Medical Council of India (MCI) if online games such as PUBG can impact children.
A division bench comprising Chief Justice BP Dharmadhikari and Justice NR Borkar informed MCI to file an affidavit after noting that the Union government at present cannot ascertain if online gaming can have an adverse effect on children.
The bench was hearing public interest litigation ( PIL) filed by an 11-year-old boy seeking a ban on the mobile game PUBG.
Ahad Nizam, who filed the petition through his mother in January 2019, said the game should be banned because it displays a lot of violence, aggression and cyberbullying.
The petition has sought a direction to the government to ban the game.
“The Medical Council of India should be looking on the matter,” the court said.
Purnima Kantharia told the court that the state government has instructed all schools to prohibit students from playing such games on school premises.
“However, once students go home, then parental control is required,” she said.
“The petition has also sought a direction to the Central government to form an online ethics reviews committee to keep a periodical check on such violence-oriented content online,” petitioner’s lawyer Tanveer Nizam added.
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