SC rejects civic body’s toll plea

A bench of justices D K Jain and Madan B Lokur rejected the SDMC’s plea that the interim order be stayed as it was losing nearly Rs 25 lakh in toll every day.

The bench,however,empathised with the civic agency over its revenue loss,but said they could not pass any interim order since the civic body should have argued its case in the High Court first.

“We are with you (on loss of revenue) but you should have approached the Chandigarh High Court. The impugned order was passed by the High Court on September 4. Why did you let so many days pass before you challenged this? You should have moved there,” the bench said.

Senior advocate Ravi Shankar Prasad,appearing for the SDMC,said the civic body was not a party in the case before the Punjab and Haryana HC and the order was passed “behind their back” even though they were a stakeholder in the toll collection.

“This order is also in complete breach of a directive of the Supreme Court,which says no commercial vehicle will enter Delhi without paying the requisite toll. Moreover,the same issue,which involves the expressway concessionaire and the NHAI,is also pending before the Delhi High Court. How could Punjab and Haryana HC issue such order?” the counsel said.

The fervent pleas,however,failed to impress the bench.

“You don’t have a copy of the HC order. How can we interfere like this? We are sure that the HC will pass appropriate orders provided you go there and bring to their notice all your arguments,” the bench said.

Prasad then requested the court to at least modify the HC order to the extent that the SDMC could collect toll from commercial vehicles. But the court turned down this plea too.

The bench,at one stage,noted that the SDMC could put up barriers in Delhi and collect toll from commercial vehicles entering the capital,but refrained from commenting any further when Prasad pointed out that their revenue-sharing arrangement with the concessionaire did not permit this.

Left with no alternative,SDMC withdrew their petition.

Earlier,anguished at the frequent traffic chaos on the expressway,the HC had restrained the Delhi-Gurgaon Super Connectivity Limited from collecting toll for 15 days,after noting that the concessionaire had not been able to ensure free flow of traffic.

Solutions put forward to the NHAI

Split-toll plazas: Congestion could be reduced by constructing additional toll booths some distance away from it to stagger the load of motorists

Ensure lane discipline: Traffic police should help ensure that motorists who pay toll in cash do not enter the lane for tag users

Encourage tag use: Provide free tags to commuters and generate revenue later when tags are recharged

Touch-and-go cards: These cards,like Delhi Metro cards, could reduce stoppage time at toll booths