Madras HC permits NHAI to collect complete fee at Vagaikulam toll plaza, reverses earlier order
MADURAI: Reversing its earlier interim order to collect only 50 per cent of the toll fee at Vagaikulam toll plaza due to poor road conditions, the Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court on Friday permitted the NHAI to collect full fee at the toll plaza.
A Bench of justices SS Sundar and D Bharatha Chakravarthy reversed the order while hearing a petition moved by NHAI against the said interim order citing the amount of revenue loss NHAI would suffer through the implementation of the order.
In the earlier hearing on NHAI's plea on September 26, the judges had noted that the 50 per cent fee collection, ordered by them on September 11, was not at all implemented. Criticising this, the judges had directed NHAI to first comply with the order before seeking relief.
When the case was heard again on Friday, NHAI informed that the order was implemented for a day and requested the Court to suspend the operation of the order in view of the revenue loss. Recording this, the judges reversed the earlier order and permitted NHAI to collect the complete fee. Meanwhile, the PILs which sought to repair the damaged NH, based on which the 50 per cent fee collection was ordered, are still pending before the court.
Though this was a long-standing problem, it came to the fore recently following a PIL filed by S Ferdin Rayan of Tirunelveli. Rayan said the Thoothukudi-Tirunelveli national highway has been in disrepair for several years. Both the bridge, where the NH crosses the Thamirabarani river, and the roads are filled with cracks and potholes and have not been relaid since 2003, he alleged.