BTC Running Out of Time
By Pearcey

Bangalore, Thursday, June 10, 2010
As a result of a judgement passed by the Karnataka High Court on March 22, 2010, The Bangalore Turf Club had been given time till the 22nd of September to vacate its current premises and hand over vacant possession to the Government Of Karnataka. The Club had claimed that subsequent to a grant from the erstwhile rulers of Mysore, the present extent of land belonged to The BTC. The claim was dismissed by the Court. The Government had pressed for vacation on the basis of certain lease deeds signed by a former Chairman of the Club, way back in 1983. After the announcement of this judgement, a pall of gloom descended on the racing fraternity all over the country. While thousands were going to be directly affected, the indirect negative impact on the entire racing and breeding industry was going to be much larger. Apart from those engaged in the day-to-day affairs of the Club, which included the Race Club employees, syces, riding boys, jockeys and trainers, there were numerous suppliers who were devastated by this turn of events. Other Race Clubs in the country have been dependent on revenues generated by holding off-course betting operations on Bangalore races. Stoppage of racing at BTC would mean a huge drain on their finances. The Government stand in the Court was quite clear. It was stated that the Government was under no obligation to give an alternate piece of land for the BTC to relocate its operations, nor was it obligated to fund such an initiative. Furthermore, they were disinclined to continue the lease beyond its current term. The court agreed with this point of view and reaffirmed the same in its detailed judgement. All it allowed was six months of winding up time, commencing from the date of the said order.

 
 
With barely three months to go, The BTC is clearly running out of time. They have only a single legal remedy, and that is to file a SLP (Special Leave Petition) against the High Court order in the Supreme Court of India. The SLP has to be well-reasoned, so that it gets admitted by the highest court in the country. It is time for everybody to get together and fight the battle jointly. Separate filings by The Breeders' Lobby, The Turf Authorities Of India, KROA, KTA and Labour Unions would definitely strengthen the case. Socio-economic problems need to be highlighted along with the main fact, that such an old and famous institution was being destroyed by a single order of the High Court. Eminent lawyers need to be engaged to safeguard the interests of the Club.

The mandatory period of filing the SLP is within 90 days from the date of receiving certified copies of the High Court order. That period is due to end in the next few days. However, the law states that "in case the courts are closed for vacations", and the 90 days get over during the said period, the first working day of the Court after vacations shall be your last available chance for filing the petitions. In this particular case, The BTC has benefited from the said rule. The lawyers have time till the 5th of July to file the BTC papers, as that will be the first working day after the summer vacations. It is hoped that the Petition shall be ready in its final format, well ahead of the said date.

There have been certain reports in a section of the press, which are being ascribed to "inside sources". These pertain to a move by the Government of Karnataka to allot a piece of land measuring about 120 acres on the road leading to Doddaballapur. It is believed that this site is in a village called Doddasonehalli, which lies about 36 kms from Bangalore. The reported offer of this site is a move by the Government to give it on a long lease to The BTC for relocating its present activities. The "inside sources" have also been talking about a tax holiday and a seamless transition. After enquiring into this matter, Indiarace learns that this is the same piece of land which was one of the few offered a couple of years ago to The BTC by the Government of Karnataka. At that point in time, it was found to be unsuitable on the grounds of size, shape and connectivity to the city of Bangalore.

According to Mr N Harindra Shetty, Chairman of the Bangalore Turf Club, "The Government has considered our request for an alternate piece of land to construct a new race course in Bangalore. Out of the few sites shown to us, the one at Doddasonehalli has been found to be more suitable than the others. The file allotting the site to BTC has been sent to the Chief Minister's Office and shall be put up for Cabinet approval in the next couple of days. We hope to get the final allocation letter by the end of next week. The BTC has also requested the Chief Minister for a Tax Holiday (in order to help us in funding the new project), and an extension of three years at the current location (to help us in having a seamless transition). The Chief Minister has been kind enough to consider this favourably and we expect an answer in the near future. With regard to the SLP in The Supreme Court of India, The BTC is going ahead and filing the same within the specified period. This is being done to safeguard the interests of our Club".

The Chief Minister has repeatedly said that he is not against racing. It is hoped that the present efforts bear fruit and racing doesn't get disrupted at Bangalore. The actual distance to the proposed location may only be 36 Kms, but the BTC journey from Race Course Road to Doddasonehalli seems much, much longer.

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