‘Wheeling Misconstrued As Bravado By Youth’: Karnataka HC Urges Legal Reform To Curb Rising Menace

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Last Updated:May 14, 2025, 18:42 IST

The Court noted the stunt has dangerously dispersed from municipality roads to agrarian areas, creating superior risks for some riders and the wide public

The Court underscored the inadequacy of existing laws nether the Indian Penal Code and the Motor Vehicles Act successful deterring specified reckless behaviour.

The Karnataka High Court has called upon the authorities authorities and instrumentality enforcement agencies to see introducing stringent ineligible provisions to combat the increasing menace of “wheeling", a hazardous stunt performed by motorcycle riders.

The Court underscored the inadequacy of existing laws nether the Indian Penal Code and the Motor Vehicles Act successful deterring specified reckless behaviour.

The Single Bench of Justice V Srishananda, portion dismissing a bail exertion filed by Arbaz Khan, who was arrested for allegedly performing wheelies and assaulting constabulary personnel, observed, “Legislature has to instrumentality into information that existing statutory provisions relating to reckless and negligent driving is hardly capable to curb the menace and therefore, to capable up the legislative vacuum, suitable and stringent provisions are to beryllium incorporated by amending the Indian Penal Code and Motor Vehicles Act to complement each other."

Highlighting that “wheeling", the enactment of lifting a motorcycle’s beforehand instrumentality portion successful motion, is often glamourised among youth, the Court noted the stunt has dangerously dispersed from municipality roads to agrarian areas, creating superior risks for some riders and the wide public.

“Younger procreation riders of the motorcycle are nether the misconception that the enactment of wheeling is bravado and indulge successful specified perilous stunts, being unaware of the sedate risks progressive successful the said act," the Court remarked.

The Court said that specified perilous misadventures not lone endanger the lives of riders and pillion passengers but besides disrupt nationalist bid and safety. “The enactment of a fewer unscrupulous and unmindful youths successful indulging successful wheeling would decidedly disturb the nationalist bid and tranquillity."

Justice Srishananda stressed that the bailable quality of reckless driving offences nether existent laws importantly hampers the quality of enforcement agencies to efficaciously curb specified behaviour.

Taking judicial announcement of the alarming emergence successful specified incidents, the Court urged the authorities to fulfill its “bounded duty" to enact tougher measures. It said, “Taking enactment of the galloping inclination and alarming emergence successful specified incidents, it is present the bounded work of the State and its instrumentality enforcement agencies to legislate indispensable ineligible provisions and to instrumentality stringent measures to suppress the perilous activity."

The remarks came successful a lawsuit involving Arbaz Khan, who was booked nether aggregate provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023 — including Sections 132, 109(1), 121(1), 115(1), 352, 351(2), 238 work with Section 3(5), 281, 125, 125(a) — and nether Sections 183, 184, 192, 196 and 177 of the Motor Vehicles Act.

According to the police, Khan and 2 others were performing wheelies successful October 2024 erstwhile they fell disconnected their motorcycle. As the constabulary approached to assistance them, they were allegedly assaulted by the accused, who besides hurled abuses, utilized filthy language, and threw a constabulary officer’s mobile telephone into the Tungabhadra canal.

Dismissing the bail petition, the Court noted the petitioner’s habitual engagement successful specified offences and his aggression toward constabulary officers. It said, “In curbing the acts of a fewer unscrupulous elements that person a deleterious interaction upon nine astatine large, thereby disturbing nationalist bid and endangering the information and information of citizens… the discretionary powerfulness vested successful this Court cannot beryllium exercised successful favour of the applicant."

The Court concluded that specified filing of a chargesheet does not automatically entitle the petitioner to bail, peculiarly successful airy of his past behaviour and the seriousness of the contiguous allegations.

Noting that Khan is simply a habi...