The Supreme Court on Thursday refused to intervene in the Kerala High Court order of a few days ago, cancelling the toll collection at the Paliyekkara toll plaza in Thrissur district. Based on a request made by the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI), the bench of Chief Justice B.R. Gavai and Justice K. Vinod Chandran scolded the abysmal state of the Edapally-Mannuthy stretch of National Highway 544 and asked the authority to rectify the same instead of taking the case to court.
It is taking the toll money from the people and not delivering the services… the service road is not taken care of…” the bench said, referring to the August 6 decision of the high court on staying the process of collecting toll until further orders. The Kerala High Court had previously affirmed that motorists should not be charged in case the highway is in a pitiful condition and the existence of heavy vehicle traffic on the highway. It also underlined the relationship between the people of the country and NHAI as that of “public trust” which is breached when it fails to provide a smooth flow of traffic.
Solicitor General Tushar Mehta and representing the NHAI, appealed against the decision on the basis that the high court erred by allowing the concessionaire, Guruvayoor Infrastructure Ltd, to recover the losses against NHAI, citing that the court had erred in the process. He insisted that the responsibility of maintaining the road was that of the concessionaire, as stated in the operations and maintenance contract.
It was pointed out by Justice Chandran that the traffic snarls mentioned in the case were a few miles away from the toll plaza, citing a local news article about a man who missed his father-in-law’s funeral due to a traffic jam at the toll booths. Instead of lodging an appeal and wasting time, you act; that is what I said to NHAI, and even ambulances could hardly penetrate at this peak.
The bench stated that it was not keen on admitting the petition of NHAI but explained that any issues between NHAI and the concessionaire can be addressed through arbitration. The case, as well as the independent petition of the concessionaire.
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