Bengaluru: In a setback to the Bangalore Turf Club (BTC), a division bench of the Karnataka High Court on Saturday prohibited it from conducting any on-course and off-course horse racing and betting activities at the BTC premises.
A division bench comprising Chief Justice NV Anjaria and Justice KV Aravind passed this order on a writ appeal filed by the state government challenging the interim order passed by the single judge bench.
The division bench has directed the interim order passed by the single bench to be kept under suspension and stayed.
The division bench stated that the prohibition will be in force till the writ petitions before the single bench are decided. The petitions were filed by the BTC and the associations representing the horse owners, jockeys, punters and the trainers.
On June 18, the single bench had granted permission to carry on with on-course and off-course racing and betting activities at the BTC premises.
“From clear prima facie reading of the provisions of the Mysore Race Course Licensing Act, 1952 and Mysore Race Course Licensing Rules, 1952, it has to be observed that on one hand there is no right to get licence for horse racing as such, unless the conditions are satisfied, and on the other hand, the grant or refusal of the licence lies in the discretionary realm of the authorities,” the division bench said.
The division bench has also kept open the question of locus standi of the petitioners other than BTC to be decided at the time of final hearing of the petition. These petitioners include the Race Course Owners Association, Horse Trainers, and Punters and Jockey’s Association.
The BTC and other petitioners challenged the June 6, 2024 state government order rejecting the representation filed by BTC seeking licence to conduct on-course racing between June and August 2024.
The rejection was primarily citing the ongoing criminal proceedings pertaining to GST evasion and the charge sheet filed in that case. The division bench said that the criminal cases pending against the accused persons could not have been overlooked since they relate to the very kind of illegalities.
“The management (BTC) cannot claim impunity and cannot claim to be absolved for the activities done during the event by the bookies and their assistants. Section 4 (4) provides that licencee can be and is authorised to issue a permit to the book-maker to operate. The Single Judge in holding that the activities carried on by the bookies have no nexus to the aspect of refusal or grant of licence, even if they are illegal and subjected to pending criminal proceedings, committed a manifest error in reasoning and in exercising his discretion in favour of the petitioners,” the division bench said.