Karnataka HC refuses to quash FIR against unlicensed bookies at Bangalore Turf Club

Prepend to the content

The Karnataka High Court has refused to quash proceedings initiated under the Karnataka Police Act, 1963 and Karnataka Race Betting Act against licensed and unlicensed bookies operating within the Bangalore Turf Club who allegedly collected GST from the punters and TDS amount from the winning bettors but failed to deposit the same before the competent authority and also failed to maintain proper registers.

The case pertains to an FIR with High Grounds Police, Bengaluru under a tip-off from CCB Police wherein a raid on the premises of the Bangalore Turf Club where the bookies had installed their stalls and were indulged in collecting the betting amount from the punters illegally without maintaining proper registers and documents and the police department had seized the amount of Rs.3,45,74,040/-.

Also read: ASP authorised to raid suspected gambling houses under Maharashtra Prevention of Gambling Act

The Police Department noted that on the day on which the amount was seized, four races were complete and a fifth one was ongoing. If the sized amount is averaged for 01 January 2023 to 18 January 2024, totalling 1507 races, the betting amount would be Rs.1302,57,69,570/-. While the actual amount reported by the club is only Rs.24,96,30,667/-.

The President of Bangalore Turf Club had provided a statement that the bookies are not authorized to enter transactions in pencil sheets, which were recovered from the bookies during the raid. The Police department also found yellow betting cards which were not issued by the Turf Club.

Also read: Andar Bahar – a game of skill; Karnataka High Court quashes FIR

Relying on the decision of the Supreme Court in the case of State (NCT of Delhi) vs. Sanjay (2014) 9 SCC 772, the Karnataka High Court also rebuked the argument that the police had no jurisdiction to register an FIR when the allegations are of GST evasion and non-deposit of TDS.

The post Karnataka HC refuses to quash FIR against unlicensed bookies at Bangalore Turf Club appeared first on G2G News.