'Why should commuters pay toll if they stuck in jam for hours': Supreme Court slams NHAI

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Monday questioned the NHAI why a commuter should be asked to pay Rs 150 toll if it took 12 hours to cover a 65-kilometer highway stretch in Thrissur, Kerala.

"Why should commuters pay toll if stuck in jam for hours," a bench of Chief Justice B R Gavai and Justices K Vinod Chandran and N V Anjaria asked, while hearing an appeal filed by the National Highway Authority of India challenging the Kerala HC's order.

The court reserved its verdict on the plea filed by the NHAI and concessionaire, Guruvayoor Infrastructure challenging the High Court’s order suspending toll collection at the Paliyekkara toll plaza in Thrissur.

"Why should a person pay Rs 150 if it takes 12 hours for him to get from one end of the road to the other end? A road which is expected to take one hour, takes 11 more hours and they have to pay a toll as well,” the bench asked the NHAI which stated it was maintaining the Paliyekkara toll plaza in Thrissur.

The Supreme Court had on August 14 refused to interfere with the Kerala High Court’s order which had suspended the toll collection at the Paliyekkara toll plaza in Thrissur district.

The court then asked the NHAI that "instead of filing an appeal and wasting time, it should do something."

The Kerala HC had on August 6 ordered a four-week suspension of toll collection, as it observed that motorists could not be charged when the highway was badly maintained and traffic congestion was severe.

The top court bench had refused to quash the HC order, on the ground that the Edapally–Mannuthy stretch of National Highway 544 in Kerala road was in a poor condition.

The court had also said the relationship between the public and the NHAI was one of the “public trust” and that failure to maintain smooth traffic flow breached that trust.

Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing for the NHAI, had argued that the HC ruling "wrongly" allowed the concessionaire, Guruvayoor Infrastructure Ltd, to recover losses from the NHAI.