Madras HC permits State to conduct F4 Night Street car race

CHENNAI: The Madras High Court (MHC) on Monday, permitted the State to conduct the Formula 4 Night Street Car race within the city and stipulated certain conditions to avoid the inconvenience of the general public.

The State should make sure that the general public is not encountering any inconvenience and silencing equipments must be installed considering the in-patients at the hospitals near the racing circuits, observed a division bench comprising Justice R Mahadevan and Justice Mohammed Shaffiq while allowing the F4 Night Street race.

Further, the bench also directed the State to get opinions from expertise for the next season of the race.

A batch of PIL filed before the MHC seeking to restrain the State from conducting the Formula 4 night street race, at Island ground, Chennai, which was initially scheduled on December 09 and 10, later it was postponed to the next season due to the repercussions of Michaung cyclone.

Even though the State has an international racing circuit at Irungattukottai, the night street race is planned to conduct at the heart of the capital city, it will put general public’s safety at stake the litigants submitted . The race is planned to be held around the Island ground spanning a 3.7-kilometer circuit covering Flag Staff Road, Anna Salai, Swami Sivananda Salai, Napier Bridge, and Kamarajar Salai, said the litigants.

The litigants also submitted that the government is not going to get any revenue out of the race, disclosed by the memorandum of understating made between the State and private company, Racing Promotions Pvt Ltd.

The State cannot act to benefit some private body using the public money, whereas here the State is planning to conduct the F4 race and investing Rs.42 crores without any revenue and the private body is going to make money is a violation of law, the litigants argued.

The litigants also putforth the inconvenience and distress would be faced by the patients at Omandurar Multi Super Speciality Hospital, due to the high decibel car race and traffic inconvenience would be faced by the general public.

However, the Advocate General submitted that conducting the F4 race is a policy decision taken by the government and it cannot be challenged before the Court. The State would generate revenue out of the car race by selling tickets to the fans, added the AG.