The judge asked the police to submit a status report by February 25, 2026.
The Madras High Court on Wednesday warned that routine policing in the state should not suffer due to the looming assembly elections and that the police should not end up citing elections as a reason for any further delay in carrying out their routine work.
Justice N. Anand Venkatesh delivered the message during the hearing of the case in 2024. He set out to find a solution to prevent youths from riding and driving motorcycles and cars recklessly on public roads by knocking down the police and youth reform counsellors.
After 2025, the judge found that not much had happened after the Chennai-based Schizophrenia Research Foundation (SCARF) in collaboration with SAMVAD, an initiative of the Union Ministry of Women and Child Development, asked the police for a status report by February 25.
“The problem now is that all the police officials are going to focus on the elections. The whole state is going to stop. The executive branch and everyone is going to be concerned about the elections. So, what happens to the others? What happens to the bike races, what happens to the people who die?” the judge asked the government’s defense attorney.
“The police department need not be fully immersed in the election process. Their work is only supportive. They only need to maintain law and order. Now the complaint is that the SCARF and SAMVAD study report is not being followed up by the police. So file a status report by (February 25),” the judge said.
It was in March 2024, while hearing a petition filed by two youths to quash the criminal proceedings against them for reckless driving, he sought the help of the Greater Chennai Traffic Police (GCTP) and Public Prosecutor Hasan Mohamed Jinnah to reform the youths between the ages of 18 and 25.
The then Additional Commissioner of Police (Traffic) R. Sudhakar told the court that the GCTP regularly deploys three interceptor vehicles fitted with automatic number plate recognition cameras at ECR, Old Mahabalipuram Road or Kamarajar Salai and Koyambedu-Maduravoyal Road to detect and catch vehicles indulging in stunts or racing.
The Additional Commissioner said the GCTP also maintains a database of old offenders involved in horse racing from 2022 and said the offenders had so far posted 107 good behavior bonds and as most of them were teenagers, their parents had been informed of the offences.
After taking cognizance of the submission, the court launched a scientific study by SCARF and SAMVAD to understand the psyche of youths who indulge in dangerous behavior on public roads as 1.68 million people lost their lives and 4.43 million sustained injuries in 4.61 million road accidents reported in the country in 2022 alone.
The study, titled “Development of Risk Reduction Interventions and Associated Behavioral Changes in Youth Traffic Offenders”, was jointly conducted by both organizations and a detailed report was submitted to the Police Department in April 2025 to prepare a module to address young traffic offenders.
Published – 11 Feb 2026 20:37 IST