The Bangalore Turf Club has lost direction thanks to a few of the elected members who with the help of nominated ones are playing havoc with the system. There is no rule of law. Whims and extraneous considerations govern the mindset of these worthies and they have caused enough damage to the sport and eroded the confidence of racing enthusiasts in their fairness. The turf club has turned out to be a compulsive litigant and, on each occasion, ended up with an egg on its face. The latest being the one pertaining to Neil Darashah.

Neil Darashah`s horse Queen Latifa came positive during the last year`s summer season for Procaine Penicillin. The horse was treated at the club`s veterinary hospital. The urine sample showed the presence of this drug at 1.2 nanograms which is not a pharmacologically active level. The Delhi lab which was the latest addition to the list of accredited labs of Turf Authorities of India gave it is a positive because they were not aware of the internationally-followed protocol of 10 nanograms as the threshold for declaring any horse as positive for the presence of banned substances. Even if one were to consider the sample as positive, the Rules of Racing says that if the B sample returns negative, then there is no charge on the trainer. The second sample returned negative for the presence of any prohibited drug. This was as straightforward as it can be in the Rules of Racing unless of course, you are a BTC Steward.

The internecine quarrel among members and the fight with the government over membership resulted in members hurling grave charges against each other resulted in the government ordering a CID enquiry. After the lapse of many months, a charge sheet was filed by the CID against six people including three officials. In the meanwhile, trainer Neil Darashah who should have been allowed to continue as a trainer was denied a license on the recommendation of a monitoring committee supposedly to protect the integrity of the sport. The BTC Stewards who should have been guided strictly by the Rules of Racing went by the recommendation of the Monitoring Committee and informed the trainer that his license was not being renewed and that he was also not allowed to come inside the race course. They also said that they were doing so on the advice of the government appointed Monitoring Committee and that they were helpless in this matter.

However, the BTC Stewards were not stating the truth because they took a caveat in the High Court when the onus was on the Monitoring Committee to deal with the matter. It was a strange scenario because a few months back, the club had argued with the same set of lawyers that there was no doping and demanded the restoration of license. Under the circumstance, it was difficult to comprehend why the club had to spend huge sums of money to deny somebody license when they knew full well that under Rules of Racing no punishment to Neil Darashah could be given.

The High Court, in its interim order, directed the club to restore the license to Neil Darashah. The BTC Stewards were not graceful and they took their own time to give the license back stating that they had to study the order. They also went to the Finance Secretary for direction. Only after there was a threat of a strike by the owners and trainers resulting in the club`s most prestigious Derby week being threatened, the club relented. But because of the snub they got and the fact that they were forced to act, the club has reportedly given show cause notice to the office-bearers of Karnataka Racehorse Owners Association and Karnataka Trainers` Association. The attitude of the Stewards is to throw their weight around and not to carry everyone along. Take any undemocratic decision and let the victim waste time and resources to get justice seem to be their sadistic guiding factor. This is how they handled one of their senior officials Lokendra Babu with more than 30 years of experience. They sacked him overnight without giving any notice or charge sheet and they were forced to take him back once the High Court intervened in the matter.

Interestingly, the High Court made an observation that the CID charge sheet appeared to have been filed without taking cognisance of the report from Quanti Lab which effectively weakens the charge sheet. The order states: ``Prima facie, records would disclose that the charge sheet had been filed on the basis of the first analytical report dated 23/03/2017 – Annexure E namely, Adverse Analytical Findings for Local Anaesthetic Procaine. However, further report or certificate of analysis issued by the laboratory specified under Medication Rules relating to Medication and treatment of horses in training racing and anti-doping control of horses would disclose there was no prohibited substance detected in the Urine sample (B) of the horse Queen Latifa.`` Further, the order says that under the circumstances, the petitioner was entitled to the interim relief as sought for.

The BTC authorities who did not renew the license to Neil Darashah when he should not have sat out for even for one day, are now left to face a peculiar situation. Trainer Dominic was suspended for 10 months by the Stewards of the Club for treating his horse Rafa with Premarin. The said drug is a female hormone. Hormones are banned substances. The Appeal Board of the Bangalore Turf Club reduced the suspension to four months which was also difficult to comprehend. The Rule 10 of the Policy on Anabolic Steroids and Sex Hormones, mandates a suspension for the first offence as 11 months and for the second 22 months. Further, the horse which comes positive for these drugs should also be sent out of the race course for a period of six months. The rule says there are no exceptions and the period of suspension is fixed. Either the professional is guilty or not. It cannot be in between. If the trainer deserved to be let off, it should have been for the full period. The order of the Appeal Board is not as per Rules of Racing because once the use of the drug has been proved, the punishment stays.

We must see what the Monitoring Committee would advise because they had said in the past that they were much concerned about the integrity of the sport when they recommended the action on trainer Neil Darashah.

In the meanwhile, the turf clubs have got a severe jolt as it has been clarified unambiguously that the GST on any service provided by the turf clubs including licensing of bookmakers attracts a tax of 28 per cent. The GST Council has issued a clarification correcting the earlier ``typographical`` error. This means that the clubs will have less money at their disposal and BTC would do well not to waste money on meaningless litigations. The BTC has collected 28 per cent tax on tote betting though they paid the GST on 28 per cent of the commission. The huge unpaid amount is still lying with the club and the money will be handy only if the GST on turnover has to be paid from prospectively from the date the clarification has been issued. However, things don`t look bright in this regard.

The BTC members Whatsup group is active in accusing that two of the sitting Stewards as benami owners of horses. There cannot be smoke without fire. How can one expect fairness in such a scenario when these worthies are guilty of circumventing the system? Justice Ananda Kumar who passed interim orders on Neil Darashah`s petition had said that ``there cannot be any dispute to the fact that the trust and faith reposed by the race going public and race enthusiasts and racehorse owners including punters should not be eroded by any person either directly or indirectly by use of any mode or method in the process of horse racing. Transparency at all levels requires to be maintained is the minimum standard expected of, inasmuch as, any abrasion in that regard would erode such trust and faith so reposed by all the stakeholders in the horse race.`` Can the Stewards touch their conscience and answer in the affirmative?

In the context of what has transpired at BTC, one cannot but help moan that all that tyranny needed to get a foothold in BTC was for people of good conscience to remain silent. In BTC rules are meant for only fools to follow.