Bengaluru: Will Bengaluru’s racing legacy come to an end on December 2? Or will it be just another controversy, for trouble does seem to dog the Bangalore Turf Club. Merely a week has passed since punters poured onto the race track, protesting an accident that resulted in Will to Win, a favourite in that day’s racing action, falling down and fracturing a leg due to a poorly maintained track.
BTC's dues of Rs 32 crore in rent, have now returned to haunt it, threatening to put an end to the historic institution once and for all. The Public Accounts Committee, headed by Congress leader H.K.Patil, unanimously recommended that racing be brought to a halt, in the event that the BTC fails to cough up the Rs 32 crores it owes the state, by December 1.
According to the note released by Mr Patil's office here, the PAC recommended that all racing activity be halted from December 1, and that the state government charge and recover all pending dues from the BTC by the same date.
The statement further added that the BTC owes around Rs 32.86 crore to the state government, which is two percent of the rent, based on the annual turnover of the club. The land lease agreement with the state government has also not been renewed for more than a decade.
"The BTC is only paying Rs 5 lakh rent annually which is actually a huge loss to the state exchequer. The rent clause was changed in 2009-10 and since 2010-11 onwards, the rent stands at 2% of the club’s annual turnover, which it has failed to pay.
Due to non-compliance of its own agreement, the state is losing a huge sum from the BTC," the PAC observed in its statement.
The note claimed that the land lease given to the expired in 2009 itself and the club is conducting its activities illegally by maintaining that their petition remains pending before the Apex court. The statement also said that the unanimous decision was conveyed to the Public Works Department's Additional Chief Secretary, Rajaneesh Goel, who was present at the meeting.
The PAC held lengthy deliberations on the BTC, located on 83.14 acres in the central business district (CBD), Bengaluru, and directed Mr Rajneesh Goel, Additional Chief Secretary, Public Works Department (PWD), to take steps to recover pending rent amount from 2010-11 to 2017-18 before November 30.
Mr Patil said the agreement between the state government and BTC ended on December 31, 2009. The then government sent a notice to the BTC to vacate, but the latter did not pay heed. The dispute subsequently landed in the Supreme Court with the BTC conducting races on grounds that its petition was pending in the court.
In 2005, the PWD annual report quoting then CAG report had observed that the BTC owed amounting to around Rs 71.87 crore in 1998-1999 itself and recommended that the club be located to the outskirts of the city.
