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Judgment
Veeraswani, C.J.—These petitions assail the validity of abolition of wagering or betting on horse races in Tamilnadu with effect from 31st
March 1975 by the Madras City Police and Gaming (Amendment) Act, 1949, brought into force by the Tamilnadu Horse Races Abolition of
Wagering or Beting) Act, 1974. The Madras Race Club and another interested in horse racing want this Court to forbid the state of Tamilnadu
from enforcing the provisions of the Acts and enable holding of horse races in Madras as well as in Octacamund. Substantially their ground is that
as under Entry 34 of List II of the VII Schedule to the Constitution which relates to the topic of betting and gambling, the power is confined to
legislate on betting of a gambling character and as horse race is a game of skill, not a gamble, the two enactments together are in excess of the
legislative power. Though the attack on the validity has also been based on Arts. 14 and 19, in view of the prevailing proclamation of emergency, it
has not been pursued at the hearing. Our attention was invited to the legislative history of betting on horse races in India which, however, is not of
any assistance to the Petitioners. One other contention, in our opinion too weak to uphold, is that the State Legislature in certain circumstances was
estopped from enacting the 1974 Act.
The Public Gambling (India) Act III of 1867 the operation of which was confined to the then Punjab and North Western Frontier Provinces,
provided for punishment of public gambling and keeping of common gaming houses. The Act defined ''common gaming house'', but not gaming
except what was implicit in that definition itself and did not appear to cover betting on horse races. The Bengal Public Gambling Act, 1867, made
public gambling and keeping of common gaming houses in the territories subject to the Lieutenant Governor of Bengal an offence. ''Gaming'' was
defined in this Act to include wagering or betting except wagering or betting on a horse race, when any of them lock place on the day on which
such race was to be run, and in any enclosure which the stewards controlling such race, had, with the sanction of the local Government, set apart
for the purpose. But the expression ''gaming'' did not include a lottery. The next legislation was the Bombay Prevention of Gambling Act, 1887,
which also defined ''gaming'' in the same way as the Act for Bengal except that it added wagering or betting between a person on the one hand and
the licensee of the race course on the other hand in such manner and by such contrivance as might be permitted by the licensee. In this Act too,
''lottery'' was excluded from its purview. It is noteworthy that the title of each of these enactments used the word ''gambling'', but sought to prevent
betting and wagering, and the last two enactments clearly proceeded on the assumption that ''gaming'' would include wagering or betting upon
horse race so so provided for a limited exception. In 1912, it was felt necessary to regulate horse racing in the Bombay Presidency and
accordingly the Bombay Race Courses Licensing Act of that year was enacted it defined ''horse race'' to mean any race in which any horse, mare
or gelding ran or was made to run in competition with any other horse, mare or gelding for any prize of what nature or kind whatsoever, or for any
bet or wager made or to be made in respect of any such horse, mare or gelding or the riders thereof, and at which more than 20 persons should be
present. Provisions were made for grant of licence for horse racing and cancellation thereof on certain grounds as well as for penalty for taking part
in horse race on unlicensed race course. The Madras Gaming Act came in 1930 and was amended in 1933. The expressions ''common gaming
house'' and ''gaming'' were defined. ''Gaming'' did not include lottery but included wagering or betting on horse races except when such wagering
or betting lock place on the date on which such race was to be run in a place or places within the race enclosure which the authority controlling
such race bad, with the sanction of the local Government, set apart for the purpose. Penalty was provided for opening, keeping or using any
enclosure for gaming on horses. Penalty was also imposed for gaming in public places. The Madras City Police Act, 1888, define ''common
gaming house'' but not ''gaming''. The Madras City Police (Amendment) Act, 1929, however, inserted in the main Act a definition of gaming similar
to that in the Madras Gaming Act, 1930. This definition was substituted by another one, by the Madras City Police (Second Amendment) Act,
1941 which added that, for the purpose of the definition, wagering or betting should be deemed to comprise collection or soliciting of bets, receipt
or distribution of winning of prizes, in money or otherwise, in respect of any wager or bet, or any act which was intended to and or facilitate
wagering or betting on such collection, soliciting, receipt or distribution. The Madras City Police and Gaming (Amendment) Act, 1949, however,
redefined ''gaming'' in the City Police Act as not including lottery but including wagering or betting. The deeming provisions which we just now
referred to, was retained in the definition but the rest except wagering or betting on horse races with limitations, we mentioned above, was omitted.
A new Section 49-A was added to the City Police Act which prohibited publication relating to horse races. The Amendment Act of 1949 recast
the definition of gaming in the Madras Gaming Act, 1930, and, as recast, the definition with the Explanation was similar to that in the City Police
Act, as amended by that Act. Also, Section 11-B was added to the Madras Gaming Act, which corresponds to Section 49 A inserted in the City
Police Act. The Madras City Police and Gaming (Amendment) Act, 1949, however, provided that the substitution of she definition of gaming in
the Madras City Police Act and in the Madras Gaming Act, 1930, which brought within its scope wagering or betting on horse races, should come
into force on such date as the Provincial Government might, by notification in the Fort St. George Gazette, appoint. No notification fixing such date
was ever made, but it was postponed from time to time until the job was done by the impugned 1974 Act by bringing the definition into force with
effect from 3lsl March, 1975.
It may be seen from the legislative history or practice, whatever it it, that gaming was understood in the sense of gambling and that gambling
included wagering or betting on horse races, though, as a matter of fact, by exclusion of such wagering or betting within the slated limits, they were
never rendered illegal anywhere in India, but in Tamilnadu for the first time with effect from the date above-mentioned. It is, therefore, reasonable
to conclude that in the legislative practice or vocabulary in this country wagering or betting on horse races is gaming or gambling.
That leads us to the Petitioners'' contention that the impugned enactments are in excess of the powers of the State Legislature . It is said that
horse race is a game of skill, that it does not involve any element of gambling and that since the power of the Legislature under Entry 34 of the
State List is only to enact on betting and gambling and not merely on betting simpliciter not involving any element of gambling, the Acts should be
struck down as incompetent. In other words, the conjunctive ''and'' in'' betting and gambling'' does not permit legislation on either betting or
gambling, but only such legislation on betting involving or in the nature of gambling. We have, therefore, to examine first whether there is no element
of gambling in betting on horse races, and second, if so, whether the limited interpretation sought to be placed on the submit of Entry 34 of the
State list it correct.
We have already noticed that ''gaming'' of purposes of the Madras City Police Act and the Madras Gaming Act as amended by the Madras
City Police and Gaming (Amendment) Act 1949, includes wagering or betting which shall be deemed to comprise the collection or soliciting of
bets, the receipt or distribution of winnings or prizes, in money or otherwise, in respect of any wager or bet, or any act which is intended to aid or
facilitate wagering or betting or such collections, soliciting, receipt or distribution. Section 49-A in the City Police Act and Section 11-B in the
Madras Gaming Act throw further light that wagering or betting on horse races will be ''gaming'', for by those sections, printing or otherwise
producing, publishing, selling, distributing or keeping for sale or distribution, any book, leaflet or other documents containing news of acceptances
for horse races or purporting to give tips or any information which is likely to aid or facilitate wagering or betting on horse races shall be punishable
with fine or imprisonment. Horse racing by itself skill continues to be a lawful sport and is not forbideen. But, is betting or wagering on horse races
gambling? Hawkins J, in Carlill v. Carbolic Smoke Ball and Co., 1892 2 Q.B.D. 484 stated that a wagering contract was one by which two
persons professing to Bold opposite views touching the issue of a future uncertain event, mutually agreed that, depending upon the determination of
that event, one should win from the other, and that the other should pay or hand over to him a sum of money or stake, neither of the contracting
parties having any other interest in that contract than the sum or stake he would win or lose and there being no other real consideration for the
making of such contract by either of the parties. This statement was approved by the court of Appeal in Carlill v. Carbolic Smoke Ball Co. 1893 1
Q.B.D. 256 According to Cotton, L.J. in Thaker v. Hardy 4 Q.B.D. 685 the essence of gaming or wagering was that one party was to win and
the other party to lose upon a future event, which, at the time of the contract, was of uncertain nature, that is to say, if the event turned out one way
A would lose but if it turned out the other way he would win. Lord Alverstone in Lockwood v. Cooper 2 K.B. 428 said much the same thing,
namely, to amount to gaming, the game played must involve the element of wagering, that is to say, each of the players must have a chance of
losing as well as of winning. The element of chances of winning or losing money or money''s worth in the games is, therefore, treated as basic to
gaming which must be one, in the present context, that involves wagering or belting, in the sense above mentioned. Lawrence, L.J. in Ellesmere v.
Wallace 1929 2 Ch. Dn. 1 took it as settled that ''gaming'' included playing at games of skill as well as aft games of chance, and pointed out that
horse racing was a game within the meaning of the Gaming Acts in which was present the element, of a chance of winning or losing money or
stake. No man bets or eaters into a wager on a certain event not depending on chance or even skill, the outcome of whose exercise cannot be
predicated with certainty, as in tennis or any game of skill where there is a chance of losing or winning. So, if winning on stake on horse races can
be a certainty and not a mere chance, it will not be gaming, as it involves no wagering or betting on a future uncertain event. So, trading on a future
uncertainty is the crux of gaming through wagering or betting. Lottery is one such case in which winnig salely depends on chance R.M.D.
Chamarbaugwalla Vs. The Union of India (UOI), which related to a prize competition, proceeded on the basis that only competitions in which
success did not depend to a substantial degree on skill would be within the ambit of Entry 34 of the State List. There, the court while answering the
validity of the Prize Competitions Act, observed:
The conclusion is. therefore, inescapable that the impugned provisions, assuming that they apply by virtue of the definition in Section 2(d) to all
kinds of competitions, are severable la their application to competitions in which success does not depend to any substantial extent on skill.
In The State of Bombay Vs. R.M.D. Chamarbaugwala, we have these farther observations:
Nor has it been questioned that the third category which comprised ''any other competition success in which does not depend to substantial degree
upon the exercise of skill constituted a gambling competition. At one time the notion was that in order to be branded as gambling the competition
must be one success in which depended entirely on chance. If even a scintilla of skill was required for success the competition could not be
regarded as of a gambling nature.
The Court of Appeal (Coles v. Odhams Press Ltd. 1936 1 K.B. 416 in the judgment under appeal has shown how opinions have changed since
the earlier decisions were given anl it is not necessary for us to discuss the matter again. It will suffice to say that we agree with the Court of appeal
that a competition in order to avoid the stigma of gambling must depend to a substantial degree upon the exercise of skill Therefore, a competition
success wherein dues not depend to a substantial degree upon the exercise of skill is now recognised to be of a gambling nature.
The question is whether, having regard to this approach, betting on horse races is of a gambling nature. We are told that it is not, because betters
bring to bear on betting considerable knowledge of each horse as to its ancestry or pedigree, history of its performance in the previous races,
various other factors and related circumstances and skill based on such knowledge and experience in horse racing. We, of course, know the
plethora of publications, information by means of booklets, pamphlets and even books and the knowledge about horses and horse races all over
the world for centuries and the tremendous enthusiasm exhibited by those race goers who in deciding to stake on a particular horse, know
everything about it which enables them to judge that it may in all probability come out successful in a race. Even so, if any skill is involved in the
process, it is not the skill of the horse, but of the one who bets on it and, based on such skill, the better cannot say with any certainty that a horse
without fail will in any case come out successful. It may be that the knowledge and experience one would have or skill of one who bets on a horse
may, with their use eliminate as far as possible the odd chance of failure and ensure so a degree so to speak, a probability of success; but, the most
astute better by using this substantial skill may still fail to be successful in his stake. The element of chance is not out-weighed by any skill of the
belter or the horse. The figures we were shown would only show that successful betting on horses sometimes, not necessarily every time, goes with
substantial skill of the one who stakes. But we are not persuaded that betting on horses is a game of substantial skill. Horse racing is a competition
on speed which will depend on a variety(sic). of changing and uncertain features which, with the best of knowledge and skill of the better, cannot
be reduced to a certainty, though of course by such knowledge and skill the probability of success of a particular horse may be approximated. In
our opinion, therefore, betting on horses does involve an element of gambling and we are unable to agree that staking on horses with expert
knowledge and skill of the better is not betting involving an element of gambling.
We are not impressed either by the contention that the use of facility of totalizator would make any difference to the gambling character of
betting on horse races. A tote or totalizator is described in Encyclopaedia Brittannica, 11th Volume as a complex mechanism employing both
electrical and mechanical device and used on race courses for wagering under the pari-mutual system. Its major functions are to print and issue
tickets acknowledging wagers on various contestants; to summarise the sale of such tickets and to display to public view the progress of wagering.
Its popularity and the popularity of racing itself derive largely from the totalizator''s speed and efficiency and from its numerous safeguards against
unethical practice. The tote has become very popular because of its safeguards against sharp practice and the fact that it eliminates bookmakers
and submitted all wagers to the easy collection of commissions and taxes. The pari-mutual system is designed to suit many types of wagering,
including doubles and tribles and it involves cumulative bets. The use of totalizator, however, does not change the character of betting en horses as
gambling; nor does it help to eliminate the element of uncertainty of success of a particular horse in a competitive racing. Ellesmere v. Wallace
1929 2 Ch. Dn. 1 Attorney General v. Luncheon and Sports 1929 A.C. 400, Club and Tote Investors Ltd. v. Smoker 1967 All. Eng. L.R. 242
were concerned with different problems. They do not, in our opinion, support the contention that belting on horse races is not gaming or that the
use of totalizator transforms that character. The first of these cases decided by the Court of Appeal was concerned with an action brought by a
senior steward of a Jockey club and a firm as the registry and stacke-holders for the club against the owners of a race horse. There were two
races advertised to be run at the New Market First Spring Meeting under the authority of the Jockey club and nominations were invited, subject to
the rules of racing. The first of these races was the Peel Handicap, described as a sweepstakes for five sovereigns, of which two sovereigns were
to be forfeited, with 200 sovereigns out of the stage, 15 entries or race to be at the option of the stewards of the Jockey club. The second race
was a long course Selling Plate of 200 sovereigns, entrance, two sovereigns, then entries or the race to be at the option of the stewards and winner
to be sold by auction for 300 sovereigns. The Defendants horse owner nominated a horse for each race. The horse did not run in the races. The
Defendant did not pay the entrance fee for either races. An action was brought to recover the entrance fee which was also the fee for the
nomination of his horse in each of the races. The court of appeal, by a majority held that the contracts for the two races were between the club and
the Defendant and not between the various entrants inter se and that they were in neither case by way of gaming or wagering within Section 18 of
the Gaming Act. The basis for this decision was that for wagering or betting, there must be an element of chance of gain or loss. But, in the case
before the court of appeal the Jocky Club never stood to loss or win. The Master of the Roles said-
But I cannot find any win for the Jockey Club ag against the dependent upon any gaming or wagering event to be decided between them The
payment of 21, do not depend upon the issue of a future event.
That is not the question we have to decide. Here, there is no claim of that type to be enforced. The impugned Act merely prohibits in effect betting
or wagering or horse races. The Club, no doubt does not enter into betting and deduction of sums for its expenditure from the stake money does
not depend upon any win for the club. All the same, when several people bet not always on the same horse, but on different horses, each of the
players has a chance of losing as well as winning. That is the essence of gaming.
Attorney General v. Luncheon and Sports Club, 1929 A.C. 400 was a case in which the Crown unsuccessfully claimed betting duty. A limited
company was the proprietor of a social club. Upon the Club premises, betting on horse races was transacted through the instruments ality of two
machines, called totalizators owned by the company and worked out by the company''s servants. Any member desiring to use these machines for
the purpose of backing a horse applied to join the club pool and if elected as a pool member, he became entitled on payment of a small
subscription to operate and for this purpose he was supplied with credit vouchers of varying amounts. Under the rules of the pool, ten percent of
the gross amount of the stakes on each race was retained by the company in respect of the facilities provided and the expenses of management and
the balance was divided among the backers, called in the rules ''investors'' of the winning horse, in the proportion of their stakes. The winnings for
each week were paid by the company from its own funds irrespective of any possible loss owing to dishonour of the vouchers. The rules provided
that the club acted simply as a distributing agent The company admitted that it was a bookmaker and that the transactions were bets within the
meaning of the Finance Act. The House of Lords held that the bets were not made with the company, but by the members inter se. and that the
claim of the Crown failed, Lord Buckmaster in his speech observed:
In this case I can see no trace of gaming or wagoring with the Respondents. To them the rise and fall of adds the success or failure of a horse and
all the hopes and hazards of the turf are completely immaterial. They can never loss except to the extent of discredited vouchers, and loss due to
that act of dishonesty is itself independent of the race....
A bet is something staked to be lost or won on the result of a doubtful issue, but no doubtful issue affects the Respondents-they neither win nor
lose on any such chance.
Viscount Dunedin put the matter thus:
In asmuch as the determination of the event in question to wit, whether a certain horse is first or is placed in a race, as the case may be, the club
can neither win nor lose, it follows that there is no bet with the only bookmaker alleged."" Lord Blanesburgh stated:
I am doubtful indeed whether they cannote the making of any bets at all either between pool members individually or between losing pool members
on the one hand and winning pool members on the other. Rather do I(sic) view each pool as being something in the nature of a highly developed
sweepstake offering results which, it is true, become practically possible only through the fool-proof accuracy of the totalizator, but which,
theoretically Would be equally attainable with the assistance of a calculating boy of requisite genius and character Be that as it may, however, of
one thing I feel satisfied and that is that on a sound construction of the bye laws it is impossible for the club to have in any people a pecuniary
interest the extent of which is ever measured by the result of any race. The fixed fee of ten percent of the takings allowed to the administration for
its services and the retention fey it of the ''fractions'', which are never in any way dependent on the event, represent the sola interest of the club in
any pool; and its practice in paying over winnings without necessarily having received the subscriptions of all the losing participants is, it seems to
me, no more than one of the services rendered by the club in consideration of that fee.
It may be seen from the facts of the case and the decision that the House of Lords did not say that betting on horse races did not amount to
gaming; rather the case entirely proceeded on the assumption that betting on horses amounted to gaming.
Tote Investors Ld. v. Smoker 1967 3 All Eng L.R. 242 was also a similar one. There, the Defendant entered into a credit betting transaction
with a certain T. Ltd. Co. who placed her bet with the Horse Totalizator Board T. Ltd. contracted in its own name on behalf of the Board, and in
effect the board agreed to collect all moneys staked with the total zator on the result of the race and to distribute the balance remaining after
deducting expenses to those backlog winners. The Defendant lost and T. Ltd, sued her for indebtedness on her bets. It was held by she Court of
Appeal that, in order to constitute a contract by way of wagering within Section 18 of the Gaming Act, 1845, it was essential that each party might
either win or lose. But, in the case before the court, the Totalizator Board could not lose and accordingly the contract made by the Defendant was
not a contract of wagering within Section 18, which, therefore, afforded her no defence. Lord Denning, M.R. observed.
If I were to interpret Section 18 of the Gaming Act, 1845. without resort to law books. I should have thought that the contracts which Miss.
Smoker made with or through Tote Investors Ltd, were contracts of gaming or wagering. The Shorter Oxford dictionary defines a wager as-
I. something (esp. a sum of money) laid down and hazarded on the issue of an uncertain event 2, An agreement or contract under which each of
the parties promises to give money or its equivalent, to the other according to the issue of an uncertain event''
The dictionary defines ''gaming'' as ''gambling''. Those definitions fit this transaction; but our law books have given a special meaning to the words
''gaming'' and ''wagering'' in this statute.
The Master of the Rolls then referred to the classical definition by Hawkins, J. in Carlill, v. Carbolic Smoke Bull Co. 1882 2 Q.B.D. 484 and
proceeded to observe further.
The definition has been approved many times particularly in Ellesmere v. Wallace 1989 2 Ch. D.1. I would not myself like to treat It as a rigid
definition or interpret it as a statute, but it does bring out this feature; it is essential that each party may either win or lose. If one party can neither
win or lose, then it is not ''gaming'' or ''wagering''. This was accepted by the House of Lords in Attorney General v. Luncheon and Sports club
A.C. 400.
Then, the Master of the Rolls extracted the observations of Lord Dunedin in Attorney General v. Luncheon and Sports Club A.C. 400 which we
have already seen, and proceeded to say:
Applying this to the present case, it seems clear that the Totalizator Board can neither win nor lose The cases show the word ''gaming'' adds
nothing to the word ''wagering''. On the authorities I feet compelled to hold that a contract by a backer who puts money on the totalizator is not a
contract by way of gaming or wagering. It seems to me that Parliament has proceeded on the assumption that bets made with the total zator are
not contracts by way of gaming and wagering.
Lord Wilberforce, in agreeing with the Master of Rolls, expressed the same view-
So I think we have to regard the position as being that the totalizator, as the result of transactions with it. is incapable of either winning or losing and
therefore not engaging in a wagering transaction.
The question we have to decide is not whether the Race Club or the totalizator which it used, is a patty to a betting contract. If that were the
question, we would have answered it in the negative, as it was done in Ellemere v. Wallace 1929 2 Ch. Dn.1 Attorney General v. Luncheon and
Sports club A.C. 400 and Tote Investors Ltd. v. Smoker, 1967 3 All Eng. L.R. 242 Here, the question rather is whether betting or wagering for
purposes of the impugned Acts does not involve the element of gambling or gaming. We have already answered that it does involve such an
element, because money is laid down and hazarded on the issue of an uncertain event. That is common in both betting and gambling, and. as Lord
Denning M.R. puts it, the word ''gaming'' adds nothing to the word ''wagering'' and we would only add that it adds nothing to the words ''betting''
either, because we cannot conceive of betting without there being in it an element of gambling in the sense of staking or hazarding on the issue of an
uncertain event. In spite of all that has been urged before us that the skill of a race goes or better plays a substantial part in his act of staking or
hazarding in backing a horse, we remain unconvinced that he does so on a certain future event. For aught we know, the horse that one backs with
all the assurance he may have through the knowledge and skill which he has acquired in betting on horse races, may not win.
On that view we must also hold that the Entry gaming and betting in the State List as a subject of Legislative power, can validly be invoked by
the Legislature in prohibiting betting simpliciter on horse races or betting and gambling on horse races. Every betting by itself is a gamble and
involves an element of uncertainty. Where there is betting, there is gambling. Where there is gaming by hazarding money on an uncertain event of
winning on a horse, there is betting. Betting is gambling and gambling includes a betting. It follows, therefore, that where the Entry is ''betting or
gambling'' or ''betting and gambling'', the effect and scope of the power will be the same.
We then come to the last contention based on estoppel. The Government from time to time postponed bringing into force, Sections 2 and 4 of
the Madras City Police and Gaming (Amendment) Act, 1949, and the last of the orders of Government. G. O. Ms. No. 1570 Home dt. 7th June
1973, stated-
The Government after careful consideration of the request of the Madras Race club direct that the operation of Ss.2 and 4 of the Madras City
Polios and Gaming (Amendment) Act, 1949, be postponed for a further period of three years from 1st July 1973 i.e. till 30th June 1976.
But, these sections have been brought into force by the impugned legislation with effect from 31st March 1975. The Race Club says that, in view
of the fact that the Government. Order assured that the bringing into force of the two sections would be postponed until 30th June 1976, for
running horse races meanwhile both in Madras and Octaca-mund(sic), it had borrowed some lakhs of rupees for giving advance to owners of
horses to buy horses, that it incurred expenditure in connection with races to be run, and that bringing into force these two sections prematurely
with effect from 31st March, 1975 would be highly detrimental to the club. It also said that the club has been paying large amounts as taxes and
donations in a large way to charitable causes. The premature abolishing of horse races before 30th June, 1976 would work to the disadvantage of
some of the charitable institutions to which the club has been contributing .We are told that the club having acted on the last Government Order
with the assurance of the postponement of Ss.2 and 4 until 30th June, 1976, as the going back upon the assurance would be seriously injurious to
the interests of the club, the Government would be estopped from bringing the legislation. But the Government pointed out that the Chief Minister
bad, as early as 1974, announced in the Legislature of the proposed abolition of betting on horse races, that the Chairman of the club himself bad
requested by his letter dated 24th August, 1974 to reconsider the decision of Government to bring into force the two sections from 31st March,
1975 and that further, the two sections have been brought into force by the impugned Act because of its accepted beneficial effect upon thousands
of poor and middle class people who lost heavily and underwent sufferings by betting on horse races. Apart from the factual aspect, we are unable
to appreciate the argument based on estoppel. So far as the Legislature is concerned, there was no representation made by it that Sections 2 and 4
would not be brought into force earlier than 30th June, 1976. It is no doubt true that Legislation is initiated by the Executive. Even assuming that
the Executive by the said order of Government bad made a representation which the club acted upon, that would not prevent the Legislature, when
the legislation was actually introduced, from considering and making it a law. We can find, therefore, no substance in the contention.
The petitions are dismissed, but with no costs.
Before we leave these petitions, we should like to make certain observations. As we pointed out, betting on horse races is a world-wide
pleasurable sport of great popularity and has evoked amazing interest and enthusiasm everywhere. There is no doubt that it is a great and ancient
sport, and turf has not been abolished anywhere else in the world, including India. Though we have nothing to do with the policy of Government in
abolishing betting or wagering on horse races, it seems to as that the reasons which prompted the policy can well be satisfied by not necessarily
abolishing horse races, but by introducing suitable restrictions, as is the case a some parts of the world, so that the evil that the impugned legislation
sought to remove can be bogged down and prevented by other means rather than by the total abolition, and thus make it possible for the sport to
continue to satisfy its numerous lovers and enable horse breeding and rearing as before and also make the race club continue to be the source of a
huge amount of revenue to the State and benefaction in a big way to several deserving charities.