The Madras High Court on Friday called for a copy of the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) entered into between the Tamil Nadu government and Racing Promotions Private Limited (RPPL) for the conduct of the Formula 4 night street race on a circuit that is being created on public roads around the Island Grounds in Chennai.
Justices R. Mahadevan and Mohammed Shaffiq asked Senior Counsel P.R. Raman, representing the private firm, to produce the MoU by Monday, December 4, 2023, to find out whether the State government would also benefit out of the revenue to be generated through sponsorships, grant of broadcasting rights and so on.
The direction was issued on a batch of three public interest litigation petitions filed against the conduct of the street race, scheduled to be held on December 9 and 10. The litigants feared a possible threat to public safety and the creation of noise and air pollution. They also questioned the need to spend public money for a private event.
Senior Counsel V. Raghavachari, representing one of the petitioners, wondered what was the necessity for the State government to spend ₹42 crore this year and commit to ₹15 crore annually during the next two years for the Formula 4 Indian championship and Indian Racing League, to be conducted by RPPL.
“Racing is not a welfare activity. It should be the last activity on which taxpayers’ money could be spent. When the State government had been complaining of fiscal deficit, why should it spend public funds for the benefit of a private body which was expected to earn hundreds of crores of rupees,” he asked.
Replying to this, Mr. Raman said, RPPL would also be investing ₹200 crore for the event. He said, every conceivable insurance policy including one for drivers as well as the spectators had been taken by the company. “It is completely wrong to project as if I am pocketing public money,” he told the judges.
Advocate General R. Shunmugasundaram said the racing event was similar to the conduct of the Indian Premier League (IPL) cricket matches, where also, a private organisation earns huge amounts of revenue through sponsorships and grant of satellite television broadcasting rights. He said, the intention behind the Sports Development Authority of Tamil Nadu (SDAT) having decided to create a 3.7 km long street racing circuit on Flag Staff Road, Kamarajar Salai, Sivanandam Road and a part of Anna Salai in Chennai was to popularise the sport among the youngsters in the city.
However, Mr. Raghavachari said, the conduct of such races on city roads would only end up encouraging the youth to indulge in rash and negligent driving and endanger the safety of other motorists by engaging in road rage with their high-speed motorcycles and cars during peak traffic hours.
When advocate Preetika Dwivedi claimed that many trees had been cut for the creation of the permanent street race circuit on the four public roads, the A-G denied the charge and said not even a single tree had been cut. He also said, permissions had been obtained from Army and Navy establishments over there.
In a status report filed before the court, SDAT Member Secretary J. Meghanatha Reddy said, public access to the four roads would be restricted from 3 pm to 11 pm on December 8 and from 1 pm to 11 pm on December 9 and 10. However, vehicle passes would be issued to the Army and other establishments on those roads.
