Pokémon GO: Gujarat HC issues notice for hurting religious sentiments

Ahmedabad: In a move that could affect the official launch of the augmented reality game Pokémon GO in India, the Gujarat high court on Wednesday issued notices to the Gujarat government, central government and game developer Niantic Inc. of the US over allegations that the game was hurting the religious sentiments of Hindus and Jains by showing virtual eggs in temples.

According to a public interest litigation filed on Tuesday by Alay Anil Dave that was heard on Wednesday by a division bench of chief justice R. Subhash Reddy and justice Vipul Pancholi, depicting eggs in Hindu and Jain temples amounts to blasphemy. The petitioner wanted the game banned in India.

Pokémon GO has not been officially launched in India so far but people are playing it using third party apps. The launch date for India has not been announced.

“Looking into various spiritual practices including religious practices as described in various Vedas and Upanishadas and other religious texts, consuming an egg is against religious practices and depicting/showing such eggs to be found in temples and other places of worship is seriously hurting religious sentiments of many worshippers,” says the petition, reviewed by Mint.

It also alleges infringement of privacy and threat to players’ lives, citing newspaper reports on accidents that have taken place on account of people playing the game and charges that it could pose a security threat to India.

The game, developed by Niantic for Android and iOS operating systems and played mainly on mobile phones, uses the device’s GPS and camera to capture, battle and train virtual creatures called Pokemon “that appear on the screen as if they were in the same real world locations as the player,” the petition says.

The PIL says that Iran has already banned Pokémon GO over “security concerns” and claims that it poses a similar threat to India’s national security too as it could be used as a surveillance tool. It cites an example of police in Missouri, US, solving a case of robbery which was conducted by robbers using Pokémon GO’s geo-location features.

The game became an instant chart-buster after its launch in the US on 6 July and is now the world’s most-played game. There have however been several reports of complaints about people’s privacy being compromised — apparently, engrossed players often trespass into private properties. The game has also been blamed for road accidents.

This is the second PIL in the Gujarat high court seeking a ban on the game. An earlier PIL sought a ban on the grounds that there could be chaos when the game is officially launched in India, given that so many people are already playing it on hacked versions.

A hearing on this petition is likely to take place this week.