After all the hype and hoopla, Bangalore Turf Club (BTC) Steward Mahendra Kuga Shankar has informed the chairman of the club Harimohan Naidu and the other members of the managing committee that he will not participate in racing activities. The club is likely to initiate an enquiry following a letter from the police commissioner T Suneel Kumar who is also a government nominee. The top cop in his letter addressed to the secretary of the club pointed out that it is alleged that the steward has suppressed information of being the owner of a horse and had got elected as a steward. It is a serious matter to be looked into immediately and an enquiry should be conducted to take appropriate action.

Before Kuga Shankar decided to stay away, members were shocked by the decision of the club’s mandarins to allow Kuga Shankar to continue in the managing committee despite the police chief’s directive. The committee, headed by Harimohan Naidu, chose to ignore the brief from Suneel Kumar and Kuga Shankar participated  in all racing activities before wiser counsel prevailed late in the evening on Friday.  

The members are now demanding an explanation from the elected body for ignoring the directive of the government nominee. It is also learnt that the police chief is upset and Harimohan and his men will have a lot of explaining to do in this case.       

According to Articles of Association of BTC, no person is allowed to contest for a place in the managing committee if he presently owns a horse and if he has owned a horse three years before filing his nomination to contest for a place in the managing committee. Kuga Shankar jointly purchased a yearling, Honey Buzzard, in partnership with Chaduranga Kantharaj Urs, breeders Nirmal Singh and Vikram Singh, in equal shares in 2010.  

The filly, Honey Buzzard, was a winner of four races at Mysore before the filly was retired from racing.  After retirement, Kanthraj Urs bought the shares owned by Nirmal Singh and Vikram Singh and the horse was sent for breeding to the Regency Stud Farm under the ownership of Kuga Shankar and Kantharaj Urs. The covering charges of the mare in the breeding farm were also paid by Kuga Shankar from his account to the Regency Stud Farm. The mare later was put out of the stud farm in 2015. This conclusively proves that Kuga Shankar was the owner of the mare till January 2015 and he was ineligible to contest the 2017 elections since he had not cleared the mandatory three-year sanitation period.

A former managing committee member of the BTC, Dayanand Mandre, while questioning the validity of the continuance of Kuga Shankar, revealed that the controversial Steward should be disqualified. “Why the committee is not initiating action. An enquiry should be conducted and truth should be revealed,” said Dayanand, adding that it simply is a violation of provisions and that the Steward should step down. 
 
The definition of the owner as defined in Article 32 (b) of the BTC`s Articles of the Association, says: No Racehorse Owner shall be a Steward in the Managing Committee. Article 32 (c) for the purpose of this Article, a racehorse owner means a person who: i) Owns a racehorse either in his own name or of a relative as enumerated in the Schedule 1 A to the Indian Company`s Act. or as a lessee; or ii) owned a horse either in his own name or of a relative as enumerated in Schedule 1(A) to the Indian Companies Act or as a lessee at any time during the period of three years prior to the date of filing of nomination. From this it is clear that the term Owner includes the legal owners of a horse. b) The term Horse includes mare, gelding, rig, colt and filly.

Kuga Shankar while admitting that he had acquired a share in Honey Buzzard in 2010 clarified that the filly was retired from racing in 2013 and later was sent to the Regency Stud Farm for breeding. “The broodmare put out one foal before she was taken out of the stud farm and I gave it to Lawrence school, Udhagamandalam, said Kuga Shankar. 

The BTC steward further disclosed that a group is indulging in false propaganda and it is political vendetta. “My case is exactly similar to a earlier case of Zeyn Mirza who was given a clean chit after the club had taken legal opinion from two top legal eagles. So why are they asking me to step down or face disqualification,” questioned Kuga Shankar. The controversial steward revealed that keeping the interest of the game in mind and not to cause any embarrassment to the committee he had made it clear that he would stay away until the enquiry is complete. 
 
Former Karnataka cricket skipper and international cricket umpire A V Jayaprakash who is also a member of the BTC said: “Action should be taken against members who violate the norms of the licencing condition and it is the responsibility of the decision makers to get rid of the black sheep in the interest of the sport.” 
 
It may be recalled that the Government of Karnataka had forced BTC to amend the Articles of the Association in 1985 after the allegation of rigging of races by the horse-owning Stewards and their associates who were members of the club and owned horses.