Mumbai: Turf Club calls for meeting on consent terms for Gallops

The Gallops restaurant at Mahalaxmi is an iconic eating house and oldest on the turf

The Royal Western India Turf Club (RWITC) and the Gallops restaurant recently closed a contentious chapter in its history. Yet, there is one more furlong like they say in racing parlance, before the horse crosses the finish line and the race is declared over.

The RWITC has called for an Extra Ordinary General Meeting (EOGM) on May 30, to approve the consent terms signed by the club in April this year, with BJR (the firm which manages Gallops restaurant on the premises) in the High Court.

Also Read: Mumbai: Will Mahalaxmi racecourse's oldest restaurant get up and run again?

The meeting will take place at Mahalaxmi in the evening, where club members can vote on whether they agree to the club's consent terms for Gallops. There is also e-voting allowed for absent members. The consent terms will come into play only after a majority of club members approve, which is 51 per cent.

The most important feature of the consent terms is that Gallops has to pay R18 crore to the turf club. This is a payment of Rs10 crore to the club within 60 days of members' approval and R8 crore (in yearly instalments of Rs1 crore each) over the next eight years. The club, which is struggling with financial losses, has its back to the wall and litigation will worsen a bad situation.

Also Read: RWITC and Gallops fail to reach agreement on recovery of Rs 18 crore

Though there are members who believe that agreeing to the consent terms may mean selling the club short, it is likely to go through given the dire straits the turf club is in.

The committee, while detailing in notice all the arrangements being made for the meeting and how to vote (including e-voting), has also outlined the consent terms. It ends with exhorting members about the positives of voting in favour of the consent terms as this shall "put an end to the long standing disputes and various litigations pending between two parties; the club will save on legal costs and shall begin to earn income from the money due to it by the BJR (Gallops) and the Club will earn a lump sum amount of Rs 10 crore before July 30, 2019."

Also Read: Mumbai: Vets from Turf club tell BMC it will help seized horses

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