Madras High Court Declines To Stall Formula 4 Street Race To Be Held In Chennai From August 31st To September 1st

The Madras High Court on Thursday refused to stall the Formula 4 Street Race that is scheduled to be held in Chennai on August 31^st and September 1^st, 2024.

The division bench of Acting Chief Justice D Krishnakumar and Justice PB Balaji passed the interim orders after considering the affidavit filed by the Chennai City Traffic Police assuring that the free flow of traffic would not be affected and that there wouldn’t be any hindrance in accessing the Government Hospital. The court had previously dismissed a batch of pleas challenging the conduct of the Formula 4 race in 2023. The event was however postponed following Cyclone Michaung which hit Tamil Nadu in December 2023.

The court was hearing a petition filed by ANS Prasada, media spokesperson of the Bharatiya Janata Party. Senior Advocate V Raghavachari, appearing for the petitioner informed the court that the Federation Internationale de l’Automobile (FIA), which was the international organization responsible for the regulation of the event was yet to approve the street circuit race and thus the race could not be conducted on the scheduled dates.

Advocate General PS Raman and Senior Counsel PR Raman appearing for the State and the Racing Promotions Private Limited (RPPL) respectively assured the court that the race would not be conducted without obtaining the FIA Homologation certificate. The court was informed that the FIA license would be issued only a day or few hours prior to the race.

In his petition, Prasad submitted that though the Sports Development Minister had assured that the State had taken measures to ensure the safety of the citizens, the Minister had not listed out the preventive measures taken by the government to ensure the safety of the people nor uttered a word about the way funds were raised, or the role played by the State Government actively with the private promoters for the conduct of the proposed race.

Prasad also pointed out that the cars used for the sporting event are designed specifically to be used in an enclosed space and thus it was not understood how the state intended to permit such vehicles to ply on the roads, which was a direct violation of the Motor Vehicles Act.

It was also submitted that the proposed race should be conducted in the street circuit format which would require closure of multiple public streets. Pointing that the race is proposed to be held on some of the major roads in the city, it was submitted that the closure of the roads would cause undue hardship despite providing alternate diversions. It was also submitted that the state had failed to put out safety measures or control the traffic while putting up the structures on the streets.

It was also pointed out that as per Section 213 of the Chennai City Municipality Corporation Act, the Commissioner could only order temporary closure of the streets for repair, to carry out drainage or lightning-related works or for any other purpose specified in Schedule V. Thus, it was argued that closing the roads temporarily for conducting the race would be in derogation of the provisions of the Chennai City Municipality Corporation Act 1919.

Thus, pointing out that race was not in the interest of the people, the petitioner sought to prevent the same.

Case Title: ANS Prasad v The Secretary and Others

Case No: WP 25228 of 2024

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