SC seeks Centre's response on Blue Whale game ban

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Friday sought the Centre's response on a plea seeking a ban on the online Blue Whale game that has been blamed for the deaths of a number of young people.

A bench of Chief Justice Dipak Misra, Justice A.M. Khanwilkar and Justice D.Y. Chandrachud sought the government's response and asked advocate C.R. Jaya Sukin to serve a copy of his petition on Attorney General K.K. Venugopal.

Sukin appeared for the petitioner N.S. Ponnaiah who is a 73-year-old lawyer from Madurai.

The petitioner has sought that awareness should be created about the fatal consequences of the Blue Whale game.

The Blue Whale Challenge, reportedly created by a former convict in Russia, is said to psychologically provoke players to indulge in daring, self-destructive tasks for 50 days before finally taking the "winning" step of killing themselves.

The petitioner said the Blue Whale game is snatching the lives of children and adults which has already caused huge damage.

He added that because of this game parents were living in panic and did not know how to deal with the situation.

The petitioner lawyer noted that the game was gaining popularity through social media and referred to media reports that about 200 people have committed suicide while playing the on-line game.