WRESTLING CONTROL

Evening Post, Issue 50, 27 August 1935, Page 11

WRESTLING CONTROL

EFFECT OF COURT'S RULING

5 The position in regard to the promo--3 tion of wrestling bouts in New Zear land continues to exercise the minds of j those at.the .head of the,sport, follow--11 ing: the judgment delivered by: the Full I Court on Friday in the case in which : the National Sporting Club of Wellingf ton asked for a declaratory judgment 2 giving an interpretation of the particu- » lar section of the Police Offences Act of; 1927, and the gazetted regulations 3 made under' that section governing, i among other things, the issuing of pert mits for wrestling matches. The Court 3 was asked to consider N whether the 3 regulations giving the police inspector J absolute discretion, in the issuing of i, permits were ultra vires» , i A member of the National Sporting t Club has explained to a "Post" reporter . that the proceedings were initiated . primarily because the National Sport- . ing Club, when it applied for a permit, was informed that in the exercise of the absolute discretion referred to the police authorities had adopted the policy of granting wrestling permits to the Dominion of New Zealand Wrestling Union and to no other body. The police had refused to issue a permit to the National Sporting Club when it asked for a match at the Winter * Show Stadium and it was upon this '•• specific refusal that the matter was * taken to Court. 1 By a majority decision of the Full ■' Court the National Sporting Club was 1 informed that it could not,demand a * permit as of right but, said the club's * official, the club had never sought to jj stage wrestling matches without the 2 approval and supervision of the police. •' What the club wanted to know was 1 whether the police were entitled to ' differentiate between the Wrestling * Union and the National Sporting Club; *' or any other reputable'body. In this connection he recalled that each' of the 1 four Judges referred to the reasonable J use of the discretionary power exercised by the police.