All's well that ends well. Sadly this cannot be said after April 28 meeting of the Deputy Commissioner, P. Manivannan, with the Managing Committee members of the Mysore Race Club (MRC) in an effort to resolve the confrontation between the MRC and the Jayachamaraja Wadiyar Golf Club (JWGC).

The temporary truce that was declared, following the meeting, seems too weak even though the confrontation has ended for now.

The battle lines are clearly drawn between the MRC and the JWGC and the focus will now shift to the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed between the MRC Ltd., and the JWGC.

On January 18th, 1986, just 28 days after the inauguration of the JWGC on December 12th, 1985, the Managing Committee of the MRC granted permission to the JWGC under the MoU, to play golf on the grounds belonging to the MRC without let or hindrance.

However, hiccups began to trouble the MRC with the JWGC violating the terms and conditions of the MoU. But a benign MRC turned a Nelson's Eye towards such violations. In fact, once when a 100 – year - old heritage tree was felled by the JWGC without the knowledge of the MRC and the Police and Forest Departments registered cases against JWGC office - bearers, the MRC surprisingly was sympathetic towards the JWGC, according to some NGOs of the City. As a result there was no crime and no punishment! Alleluia!

This in all probability encouraged the Golf Club to violate the terms and conditions in a number of ways over the years. No wonder this finally led the MRC to cry, “Enough is enough” and put an end to the relationship. A relationship that was originally built on mutual respect and goodwill meant to last long, borne out of the fact that most of the members of the JWGC were also MRC members, including this writer.

With the growth of JWGC membership to something like 1400, of whom only around 300 are playing members, it acquired a couple of acres of land on Maharana Pratap Singh road, Nazarbad, where a Club House with all facilities, including a bar and residential rooms, was built. Naturally it attracted members enabling it to charge as much as Rs. 5, 20, 000 for donor members and Rs.2, 20,000 for playing members.

As a result, flush with funds running into crores, the JWGC was now ready to take on its own creator and mentor, the MRC. The JWGC also built up a very efficient network of public relations, providing free facilities for celebrities and VIPs, like the use of the club and the golf course. In the process, it also created a strong lobby among bureaucrats and politicians, thus winning their sympathy and support whenever it was needed — just as it happened in the present crisis.

In contrast the MRC has been living on its past glory, ignoring the most important function of an organisation such as public relations, especially with bureaucrats and politicians. Thus, it was the JWGC's thinking, rumoured in certain quarters, that it could get the golf course leased from the government in its own name and even had the audacity to make certain moves in this direction with the right kind of people in the district and in Vidhana Soudha. There was once a suggestion, ridiculous though it was, that the whole of the leased land of the MRC should be leased to the JWGC (when the lease would come up for renewal) and the JWGC would in turn permit the MRC to conduct races. Wah! However, this line of thought was not pursued vigorously for obvious reasons.

But then, there was a lateral thought on the part of geniuses in the JWGC. How about getting the present MRC Golf course leased to JWGC directly from the Government? Yes, but again there is a catch. Out of the 18 holes, 9 holes are right in the middle of the race course proper within the white barricade! Where will they go for land to relocate these 9 holes?

In the midst of all this Cold War, shadow boxing and the confrontation over the rights under the MoU, a sort of criminal act on the part of the JWGC was noticed when it put up a notice on its notice-board, signed by its Honorary Secretary, G. Narasimha Murthy, dated April 27, 2010 — just three days after the MRC cancelled unilaterally the MoU with the JWGC and restricted access to the MRC golf course by insisting on getting an ID card and car pass from the MRC, euphemistically calling it as a security measure!

The notice unwittingly dragged in the office of the Deputy Commissioner of Mysore, without his knowledge. Naturally, the DC Manivannan got upset and instructed the Additional Deputy Commissioner, Dr. C. G. Betsurmath to direct the Tahsildar to file a complaint against JWGC and its Honorary Secretary, Narasimha Murthy, with the Police.

The full text of the JWGC notice is as under:

Jayachamaraja Wadiyar Golf Club
NOTICE
27th April 2010
Dear Golfers,
We are pleased to inform you that The Deputy Commissioner of Mysore has ordered the MRC Ltd., to allow the J. W. Golf Club Members to play Golf as usual, without giving any undertaking and Identity Card from MRC Ltd.
— G. Narasimha Murthy, Hon. Secretary.

The DC had expressed his shock and surprise when the MRC Chairman brought this to the notice of Manivannan during his meeting with them on April 28 at the MRC premises.

This only shows the audacity and the confidence of the JWGC office - bearers to assume that they could, with impunity, do what they wished in anticipation of the approval of Manivannan. Indeed the JWGC officials seem to have gone overboard once again with the DC at their own peril.

Be that as it may, the truth as it is today, especially after the intervention of Manivannan, is that the MRC has very badly lost its face in the first round of the battle because of the status quo ante decision taken at that meeting. It is hoped that at the end, the war will be won by the MRC despite there being the proverbial sting in the tail, in the form of the nebulous concluding sentence in the MoU which reads as follows:

"The Managing Committee of the Mysore Race Club reserves the right to cancel, modify or amend any of the above by mutual consent."

No wonder the JWGC is holding on to the two last words in that sentence, 'Mutual Consent' like a drowning man clutching at a straw.
Whoever it was, advocate or a lay person, who drafted this MoU must be called in, if he is still alive, to explain these two words — the hidden meaning — in the context of the whole sentence. As the Deputy Commissioner Manivannan, with a naughty smile, told me, "It was like the landlord asking for permission from the tenant to get him vacated from the house!"

However, in my humble opinion that last paragraph must have been written after consuming the spirited last peg at the table on which it was drafted oblivious of the danger loaded into these two — mutual consent — words. However, since the sentence enables only the MRC to "cancel, modify or amend" the MoU by specific mention of its name and there is no specific mention of the name of JWGC, a fair and legal inference can be made that the words, “mutual consent” was intended to mean “mutual notice”.

If we are to consider this interpretation, then the decision, taken by the DC at that meeting for a status quo ante and advising the managing committee ( as I was told ) to issue a notice to the JWGC, is justifiable and in line with natural justice.

Here, it may not be out of place for me to recall the letter written by my old friend, late C. Srikantan, owner of Lakshmi Theatre and an MRC member as well as a life member of the Indian Golf Union, to the Managing Committee of the MRC and all the members, that cautioned them against allowing the MRC golf course to be used exclusively by the JWGC to the exclusion of all other golf players who are not JWGC members as far back as Nov. 23, 1989.

Nobody took heed of his warning and in fact, dismissed this letter, calling him sarcastically, “Circular Srikantan” as he always sent out circulars whenever he took up public causes.

At the end of the day, those who manage the affairs of an institution must be dreamers and visionaries, apart from being honest to the task they are entrusted with and resonate well to the trust members of the organisation have reposed in them.

Let us hope MRC wins in this war of attrition, no matter even if it is by a whisker.

Tailpiece:
I learn that the MRC too has filed complaints about vandalism at its golf course by the JWGC members with the Police.