Apex Court orders status quo till completion of hearing

The Bangalore Turf Club which is battling for survival got a temporary reprieve when Supreme Court ordered status quo till completion of hearing on Tuesday. The High Court had fixed September 22 as the date for BTC to shut its operations and vacate following the expiry of the lease of land with the government. BTC’s attempt to quash the lease deed by claiming that the land came to them by way of grant and that they were the rightful owners had not found favour with the High Court.

The Supreme Court which partly heard the matter has put off the hearing to sometime next month and the same bench will hear the matter again. The matter may come up sometime in the third week of October. The Karnataka Counsel pleaded for time to make his submission following the one made by the Senior Counsels on behalf of Bangalore Turf Club, Karnataka Owners Association, BTC Employees Association and Breeders Association of India (NHBSI). The court is expected to give time for these counsels to reply to the submission made by government counsel and the matter may take a while before it reaches its logical conclusion.

Senior Counsels Soli Sorabji and K K Venugopal represented the BTC, owners association and BTC employees while Abhisehk Singhvi is representing the Breeders Association of India.

In the meanwhile, BTC employees had conducted an all night homa on Monday, praying for relief from Supreme Court. The BTC employees, both permanent and daily wage employees are all concerned about their uncertain future following the High Court's order and government's determination to shift the race course without the alternate venue in place.

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