Formula 4 Night Street Race Event: Madras High Court Grants Permission To Tamil Nadu Government

The Madras High Court granted permission to conduct a Formula 4 night street racing event in Chennai. In response to a group of public interest litigations (PIL) challenging the street race on Monday, the Court arrived at this current decision. Initially, the race was planned to be held in December 2023, but the event got postponed following the Michaung Cyclone.

Dismissing the petitions, the bench of Justice R Mahadevan and Justice Mohammed Shaffiq stated that the State government has already decided to organise the event as part of their policy decision to advance sports and has  spent enormous amount as part of this decision. The court claimed that they are not inclined to stop the race; however, laid down certain conditions.

The court, thus, stated that the race would be conducted on the dates to be decided by the State in consultation with the stakeholders. The Bench then said that the race should be conducted with the “highest degree of public safety” and requested the organisers to install necessary silencing equipment for noise control and to provide necessary protective gear to the public viewers, the Live Law reports.

Since the main disagreement concerning the street race was the State spending 42 crores for the race, which could only gather revenue for the private organisers, the court asked the organiser to reimburse the state government”s expenditure before the conduct of the event. Additionally, the Court made it explicit that the organiser, Racing Promotions Private Limited (RPPL), could not expect anything except facilitation and arrangements from the government.

Furthermore, the Bench, in its decision, urged the State to solely organise the race in future years as part of their policy decision and obtain support from private bodies with experience and expertise.

(With inputs from Live Law)