Dangerous Stunts: Madras High Court Asks Biker To Help Patients In Trauma Ward, Upload Instagram Video Against Reckless Driving

Granting anticipatory bail to a biker accused of performing dangerous stunts on a public road, the Madras High Court directed the 22-year-old to upload a video on his Instagram account against reckless driving and also report before a trauma ward duty doctor at Rajiv Gandhi Government General Hospital for three weeks. 

The directions are part of the conditions imposed by the court while granting him the pre-arrest bail. Justice AD Jagadish Chandira ordered the accused to report to the Duty Doctor at Rajiv Gandhi Government General Hospital and assist the Ward Boys at the Trauma Ward in taking care of the patients from Tuesday to Saturday between 8 am and 12 PM for three weeks. 

"He shall also submit one page report daily about his experience in the Trauma Ward to the Duty Doctor and thereafter, the Dean shall forward the reports submitted by him at the end of three weeks to this Court," said the court.

Considering that the accused has over 40,000 followers on Instagram, the court asked him to upload a video on his Instagram account "against reckless driving, drunken driving and insisting of wearing helmets and seat belts during driving".

The accused has been further directed to file an affidavit that he will not indulge in such acts on the road, and distribute pamphlets at a traffic signal containing awareness messages against "reckless driving, drunken driving and insisting for wearing helmets and seat belts during driving."

The pamphlet distribution has to be done at Teynampet-Mount Road Junction signal on every Monday between 9.30 a.m. to 10.30 a.m. and 5.30 p.m. to 6.30 p.m. for a period of three weeks, as per the order.

The court noted that the accused, who is a young motorcycle enthusiast and is also an active user of Instagram, had driven the vehicle in a reckless manner and caused fear and panic among drivers and pedestrians travelling on the road.

"The petitioner is an youngster active in social media with huge followers, instead of being role model to youngsters, he is alleged to have set a bad example by driving the vehicle in a reckless manner on the main road, instilling fear in the minds of the pedestrians," said the bench.

However, the court took into consideration the petitioner's age and said if he is arrested and sent to jail, it would affect his future and career.

"Further, the entire episode is available in CCTV footage, this Court is of the opinion that custodial interrogation is not required and anticipatory bail may be granted to the petitioner by imposing certain conditions that would in a way reform him," added the court

The court also noted that some of the co-accused, who were arrested, have been granted bail. 

The prosecution case was that the petitioner along with seven others had driven their motorcycles in a reckless and zig zag manner at midnight in Anna Salai. They created loud noises, caused panic among other vehicle users and pedestrians, and endangered their safety, according to the police.

While seeking anticipatory bail, the petitioner submitted that he was a motorcycle enthusiast and a BTech dropout. Though he had used his motorcycle skills for wrong purpose, he had no intention to attempt to commit culpable homicide, his counsel submitted. The court was also told that other Section 308 IPC, other offences under the Motor Vehicles Act in the case are bailable in nature.

Opposing the grant of bail, the State submitted that the petitioner, who had about forty thousand followers on Instagram, had set a bad example for the youngsters and uploaded videos of the wheelie on social media .

The court was also informed that the petitioner had come all the way from Hyderabad to perform the "illegal acts", with the knowledge that their acts would endanger the life of pedestrians and co-drivers. 

The petitioner however submitted that there was no complaint and no body was injured. Even going by the prosecution version, the alleged act of the petitioner was uploaded in the social media and the entire incident was recorded in the CCTV cameras, his counsel argued, adding in such a situation, there was no requirement for custodial interrogation. 

Case Title: Gotla Alex Binoy v. IOP Chennai

Case No: Crl OP 22678 of 2022

Citation: 2022 LiveLaw (Mad) 415

Click here to read/download the judgment