New Delhi: The Supreme Court pulled up the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) over the poor condition of highways and heavy traffic snarls, observing that travellers cannot be made to pay toll for roads that leave them stuck for hours.
Hearing a plea against the Kerala High Court’s order to suspend toll collection at the Paliyakkara plaza on NH-544 in Thrissur, a bench of Chief Justice of India BR Gavai and Justices K Vinod Chandran and NV Anjaria remarked that the plight of commuters
across India had reached frustrating levels.
CJI Gavai drew a parallel with Delhi’s situation last week when heavy rain brought the capital to a halt. “The city becomes paralysed if it rains for two hours,” he observed, reflecting on the chaos caused by waterlogging.
Referring to a recent report of a 12-hour traffic jam in Kerala, Justice Chandran asked, “Why should one pay toll after spending 12 hours to reach one end of the road from another?” When Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, representing NHAI, said a truck had overturned due to “an act of God,” Justice Chandran countered: “The truck didn’t overturn on its own, it had overturned after falling into a pit,” pointing to the poor condition of the road. On being informed that the toll for the 65-km stretch was Rs 150, CJI Gavai questioned, “Why should a person pay Rs 150 as toll if he needs 12 hours to cover a road that would have taken only one hour without traffic?”