SC upholds decision barring toll collection on DND flyway

Apex court's strong statements

- Utkarsh Anand

NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Friday upheld a decision barring the collection of toll charges on the Delhi-Noida Direct (DND) flyway, and reprimanded the Noida authority for enabling a toll company to "defraud" and "exploit" commuters indefinitely through an arbitrarily drafted agreement.

A bench comprising justices Surya Kant and Ujjal Bhuyan affirmed the 2016 judgment of the Allahabad high court, which directed the Noida Toll Bridge Company Ltd (NTBCL) to cease toll collection from vehicles using the DND flyway, which connects Delhi with Noida.

"...no person or entity can be allowed to make an undue and unjust profit from public property, at the cost of the public at large," said the bench, coming down hard on the lapses in governance and financial improprieties in the flyway project.

The Supreme Court found that NTBCL had already recovered both the cost of constructing the flyway and a reasonable profit since the expressway opened in 2001.

"Since NTBCL has recovered the costs of the project and substantial profits thereon by virtue of imposition of user fees/tolls and given the existing position of law, we find no error in the high court's judgment and its directions in restraining the imposition and collection of user fees/tolls...There is no rhyme or reason for the collection of user fees/tolls to continue," stated the judgment authored by justice Kant.

The court observed that the indefinite continuation of toll collection was "rooted in the deliberately crafted language of the concession agreement" and constituted a breach of public trust.