India's 247-year-old horse racing club faces closure

The Madras Race Club, the oldest horse racing club in India, was closed by the Revenue Department in Tamil Nadu on Monday morning. This caused a lot of concern among horse racing enthusiasts in India. However, the Madras High Court provided temporary relief later in the day. If not for this relief, it would have been the fourth time in the 247-year history of the Guindy Race Course that its operations were halted.

The club had only been closed three times before, in the 1770s due to Hyder Ali's invasion, in 1875, and during World War I. The Madras High Court's relief was only for two days. The court stated that the action of taking possession of the premises without giving any notice was illegal. The closure was due to a dispute over the non-payment of arrears of revised rent amounting to Rs 730.86 crore, as claimed by the government in 2017.

According to a club member, on Monday morning, revenue authorities and police sealed the club's gates and posted a lease termination notice by the district collector. Trainers and jockeys were asked to leave, and around 500 horses were locked inside the stables as the closure came without any prior notice.

Later in the day, a division bench of justices S S Sundar and K Rajasekar gave temporary relief to Madras Race Club, asking the government to follow a proper process before taking any such actions.

"This comes two months after the Revenue Department took over the Ooty Race Course in Udhagamandalam town from the Madras Race Club, citing arrears in lease rent," said a member of the club. It was reportedly to the tune of around Rs 822 crore pending since 2001. Advocate Vaibhav R Venkatesh, who appeared for the club on Monday, argued that the land lease is valid till 2045 and the club should not be deprived of the property, especially when an appeal related to rental arrears is still pending before the court.

The current lease contract was signed on March 8, 1946, and is legally valid until April 1, 2045, for a total of 99 years. The administration has stated that there is no possibility of changing the lease payments during this time. This is because there is no clause in the contract that allows for such changes. The Madras Race Club has confirmed that they have already paid all the lease payments for the entire duration of the lease, as mentioned in the club's annual report.