From Our Special Correspondent
Daijiworld Media Network

Bengaluru, Nov 20: The State Government has been asked by the Public Account Committee (PAC) of the Karnataka State Legislative Assembly to take steps for the closure of all activities, including racing, of the Bangalore Turf Club (BTC) from December 2.

The Legislative Assembly’s PAC has also directed the government to recover pending rentals amounting Rs 32.86 crore before November 30, 2019.

The PAC headed by Congress MLA H K Patil has directed the Law Secretary of the State Government to take all necessary steps to settle a legal dispute regarding Bangalore Turf Club (BTC) in the Supreme Court and submit a report on actions taken to settle the dispute to the committee in the first week of December.

The PAC held lengthy deliberations on the BTC, which was located on 83.14 acres in the central district of the State Capital, and directed Rajaneesh Goyal, Additional Chief Secretary of the Public Works Department (PWD), to take steps to recover the pending rental from 2010-11 to 2017-18, before November 30.

An agreement between the State government and BTC was ended on December 31, 2009 and the then government had sent a notice to the BTC to vacate the land but the latter declined to budge. The dispute landed in the Supreme Court, Patil said.

According to the PAC, the BTC is estimated to owe annual rent of Rs 32,86,99,102 between 2010-11 and 2017-18 to the government.

Briefing reporters on the findings of the PAC, Patil said the Advocate General of the State Government in 2013 told the Supreme Court to maintain status quo on the matter.

“A tacit understanding between state’s bureaucracy and the BTC members is the major reason for the delay in vacating the stay in the Supreme Court,” he said.

The Supreme Court has not issued any stay orders on the dispute, he said.
In 1989, the State Government had written to BTC to return its land to the government but nothing had happened.

For the last few decades, several PACs recommended shifting of the BTC to outskirts of the City. But the governments had not acted on the PAC recommendations in the past, Patil said.

The Comptroller and Auditor General of India in its report for 1998-99 had mentioned the loss of Rs 71.87 crore to the State exchequer and recommended to the government recover it, Patil said.