CHENNAI: Inspired by the Supreme Court-mandated Justice Mudgal committee probe into cricket betting and IPL franchise scam, a writ petition in Madras high court has demanded a similar investigation into the affairs of Madras Race Club (MRC), alleging rampant horse-fixing, jockey-fixing, illegal betting, conflict of interests, and fraudulent sale of prime properties, all involving several hundreds of crores of rupees.

(In 1896, the Queen of Wales gave away 160.86 acres of land at Guindy to the club for an annual lease rent of 3.8 per acre. The club at present pays 613 per annum as rent for 96 acres. What happened to the remaining parcel of land is not known).

Out of 540 horses registered for participation in races, 340 are owned by the chairman of the management committee M A M Ramaswamy, while the ownership of the remaining 200 are 'shrouded in mystery', the writ petition of MRC member S Anavarathan of Vadapalani said. Highlighting the serious conflict of interest in long-time committee members owning horses and fixing huge prize money for themselves, the petition said results are 'pre-fixed' by horse owners who race the maximum number of their own horses in contests.

He said bookies who pay 20% as betting tax to the government while participating in the 'game of skill' are duped by horse owners who book jockeys and ask them to 'hook the horses, wherein speed of racing horses are deliberately reduced or their run interfered with to ensure victory of another horse. "To tweak the results of races, MRC decides in an arbitrary fashion the horses which would run in a particular race and some horses are pulled out at the last minute and reassigned to another race. It is done to alter the results of races, to suit pre-determined interests and ensure that the price money goes to a particular owner," the petition said.

Drugging and giving performance enhancing drugs to horses too are widely prevalent, it said, adding that other turf clubs in the country take blood samples of the animals before the start of the race. There is no such check and monitoring done in MRC, it said, adding that even the Animal Welfare Board is unconcerned about the plight of these horses.

The petition said MRC had been functioning without any sort of government control or supervision, and added that the three members nominated by the government had not attended any club meetings for several years now. It said club money worth several crores of rupees is diverted through fraudulent enrolment of members, purchase of feeds, contract works, employee salaries and maintenance of MRC properties.

The club has either sold or leased out prime properties without any government clearance, to favoured builders and developers, the writ petition said, adding that it had done nothing to develop horse racing as a game. It is under the 'vice-like grip' of some individuals who run it like their personal fiefdom without any transparency, the writ said, adding that the government had not acted upon several representations to appoint a multi-member body to probe the affairs of the club.

Noting that the club had deviated from the stated objectives of the land lease/grant conditions, the petition wanted the court to appoint a multi-member panel headed by a retired high court or Supreme Court judge to probe conflict of interests, race/horse-fixing, horse drugging, sale of properties and diversion of club funds, and submit a report to the government for appropriate action. He sought legislative control over the club by bringing in a law, as in other states, so that the game of horse races can be licensed, regulated and monitored. It wanted immediate halt to enrolment of new members or sale or alienation of MRC property to any third party.

Justice V Ramasubramanian asked the MRC authorities to submit their replies in three weeks

Courtesy Times Of India