CHENNAI : The second bench of the Madras High Court on Wednesday directed authorities concerned to provide a separate lane for VIPs, including judges of the High Court, to pass through the toll plazas in the country without any hindrance.Any violation of this directive will be viewed seriously and show cause notices will be issued to the authorities of National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) if circulars are not issued forthwith to all toll plazas, a bench of Justices Huluvadi G Ramesh and M V Muralidharan warned and posted the matter after four weeks. The bench was passing interim orders on a batch of PIL petitions praying for a directive to TNSTC to pay toll fee.
“It is disheartening to note that vehicles of VIPs and sitting judges are stopped at the toll plazas and asked to show the ID proof, which caused a lot of embarassment to them. It is very unfortunate that sitting judges are also compelled to wait for about 10 to 15 minutes, which has not been taken seriously by the Union government and the NHAI,” the bench said.
A circular may be issued to all the toll plazas to provide a separate lane for the vehicles of VIPs and sitting judges. Any violation of the order by NHAI will be viewed seriously, the bench warned again.