Vijaypat Singhania resigns from RWITC committee

PUNE: Vijaypat Singhania, sheriff of Mumbai, has stepped down from the committee of the Royal Western India Turf Club (RWITC). This follows a letter asking his exit from the committee, signed by 350 members of the Turf Club, which governs the race courses of Mumbai and Pune.

Cyrus Poonawalla, chairman, RWITC, told ET that the requisition was put before the committee at a meeting held here on Sunday morning. The committee received Mr Singhania’s resignation letter at 1 pm. “I feel vindicated by his resignation because I maintain there was a conflict of interest in Dr Singhania continuing on the committee and asking for the race course to be moved out of Mahalaxmi, where he wanted a tower to be constructed.

That would have been bad ecologically and the Mumbai race course is a show piece,” Mr Poonwalla maintained.

Mr Poonawalla attributed Mr Singhania’s letter alleging malpractice and corruption at the Mumbai race course as being part of a personal vendetta against him.

The Mahalaxmi race course, besides contributing Rs. 23 crore to the state government’s coffers, is also a place where local residents use for exercising and for walks in the central part of the race course. Should the l;and be handed over for development, the city will lose its lungs, environmentalists maintain.