The
Division Bench of the Mumbai High Court on Tuesday ruled in favour of
the Royal Western India Turf Club and upheld the decision of the club to
withdraw the license granted to trainer Vinayak following the diluting
of the urine sample of his ward, Glory after she had won the A.Geddis
Plate in Mumbai in March this year, by his jamadar Kalu Singh in full
glare of the surveillance camera.
A single Judge had stayed the operation of the sentence and passed
strictures against the RWITC while allowing the club one week's time to
appeal against the verdict last month.
The two-judge Division Bench comprising Justice Gokhale and Justice
Devdhar read out of the operative part of the judgment on Tuesday,
allowing the appeal of the RWITC and absolving the club of all the
charges of malafide. The bench found the RWITC decision to be in order.
It may be recalled that Vinayak's jamedar Kalu Singh was warned off from
the race course for five years while Vinayak's license was withdrawn for
one year for vicarious responsibility. The Appeal Board subsequently
gave some relief to trainer Vinayak, reducing the period of suspension
to end of October 2006. Vinayak contested the decision of the RWITC in
the
court and had argued that due process was not followed and that charges
were amended at each stage to suit the convenience of the club. He also
argued that based on SMS's and recorded conversations between Board of
Appeal Member Mr. Mohit Lalvani, Dr. Cyrus Poonawalla and Capt. Jamshed
Appoo, the entire move was pre-mediated and the action of the club was
malicious and biased.
In the meanwhile, the Civil Suit filed by Mr. Khusro Dhunjibhoy, Mr.
Shyam Ruia and
Mr. Vijay Shirke that the RWITC Committee should have gone into the
allegations regarding the telephone transcripts and the matter should
not have been referred to the Stewards has been dismissed. While not
granting any relief, the Civil Court also said that the Stewards had the
full power to discuss the subject when the same is referred to them. The
three committee members had also questioned the participation of Dr
Cyrus Poonawalla in the meeting.
