The Madras High Court has agreed to hold a special sitting on Saturday (August 31, 2024) to consider a plea by the Racing Promotions Private Limited (RPPL) to extend the deadline of 12 noon, fixed by the court on Thursday (August 29, 2024), for obtaining the Fédération Internationale de l’Automobile (FIA) homologation certificate for the Formula 4 night street car race to be held in Chennai on Saturday and Sunday (September 1, 2024).
Acting Chief Justice D. Krishnakumar has ordered the constitution of a special Division Bench comprising Justices R. Sureshkumar and P.B. Balaji to hear the plea. In the plea, filed through senior counsel P.R. Raman, the RPPL has sought to extend the deadline to 6 p.m. since it would take that long to make certain changes to a particular corner of the track as suggested by the FIA.
“By 6 p.m. today (Saturday), the Federation of Motor Sports Clubs of India (FMSCI) will release the FIA certificate,” the RPPL said, adding that the track work was delayed because it was the first time that such a sporting event was being conducted in Chennai. The company, which holds the licence for conducting the Formula 4 race, also attributed the delay to the sudden showers in the city on Friday (August 30, 2024).
“More than ₹200 crore has been spent by the petitioner, and massive arrangements have been made for the safe viewership by the spectators. Around 5,000 tickets have been sold, and there would be serious prejudice and irreparable hardship caused to the petitioner if in case the time is not extended from 12 noon to 6 p.m. today. Absolutely no prejudice would be caused to anyone else if the time is extended,” the RPPL said.
The company said the delay on Saturday would not matter as much as only practice sessions were scheduled for the day and that competitive racing would take place only on Sunday.
The company has also served a copy of the petition on Senior Counsel V. Raghavachari, representing BJP spokesperson A.N.R. Prasad, who had filed a public interest litigation petition against the conduct of the race on a circuit created on four public roads around the Island Grounds in Chennai. He had insisted on shifting it to a well-laid racing track at Irungattukottai.
Passing interim orders on the PIL on Thursday, the first Division Bench comprising the ACJ and Justice Balaji had permitted the conduct of the race as scheduled, subject to the organisers obtaining the FIA certificate before 12 noon on Saturday.
Since the certificate could not be obtained within the stipulated time, the organisers had moved an urgent miscellaneous petition seeking an extension of the deadline. Additional Advocate General J. Ravindran and Mr. Raman are expected to represent the Sports Development Authority of Tamil Nadu and RPPL, respectively, during the special sitting on Saturday.
