The Karnataka High Court on Tuesday asked the State government to specify the statutory power exercised to permit the Bangalore Turf Club Ltd (BTC) to conduct betting for horse racing through the online platform instead of the existing practice of manual betting at the race course.
A division bench comprising Chief Justice Abhay Shreeniwas Oka and Justice S. Vishwajith Shetty passed the order on a PIL petition filed by C. Gopal, a resident of Shatinagar in Bengaluru.
The petitioner had questioned the correctness of the government’s June decision permitting the BTC to conduct betting through online platform sans spectators in the race course in view of COVID-19 pandemic restrictions.
‘Will open up betting’
It has been alleged in the petition that the betting on horse racing, which is at present restricted to only the race course in Bengaluru, will open up betting to the entire society, including rural areas, as people sitting in any location can participate in betting.
The petition said that the Chief Minister, without studying the pros and cons of online betting on society at large and on youngsters and rural masses in particular, has approved the proposal for online betting based on a representation by the BTC.
