Not A ‘Road To The Moon’, Supreme Court’s Rebuke In DND Flyway Case

The flyway connecting Delhi and neigbouring Noida will remain toll-free for commuters, with the Supreme Court on Friday refusing to stay an Allahabad High Court order restraining Noida Toll Bridge Company Ltd. from levying the cess, saying it should not claim it has built "a road to the moon".

The apex court, which refused to interfere with the high court order for the time being, said, "let the interim arrangement be there. We will pass some order after Diwali vacation." A bench, comprising Chief Justice TS Thakur and Justices DY Chandrachud and L Nageswara Rao, said it will decide on the submission of referring the issue of calculation of toll collected, which has been disputed by the company, to the Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG).

When senior advocate AM Singhvi, appearing for the toll collecting firm, was repeatedly assailing the high court order and seeking an interim stay on it, the bench said "you have only ten kms of highway and you claim that you have made a road to the moon. ... You have done well but not something (great)."

Singhvi said Noida Toll Bridge (NTBCL) is a company limited by shares and listed with stock exchanges here and abroad including London, and permitting it to collect toll for one or two more months would cause no harm to anyone.

"The balance of convenience is in our favour as I have been collecting toll for last 15 years. If tomorrow it is held that I have the right to collect toll then we cannot go on chasing vehicles for the past toll," he said.

To this, the bench asked "if we hold otherwise, then will you chase vehicle owners to return the money collected....You don't lose much and it is only in terms of time you may lose, but if you succeed, you will get extra time".

At the outset, the bench said it wanted to know about the expenses incurred and the "permissible return" the firm wished to get back from the Delhi-Noida Direct (DND) flyway.

Referring to the terms of contract and accounting details with regard to the flyway, Singhvi said the high court did not take into account all aspects and submitted that factors like interest on construction cost, depreciation and maintenance expenses, which comes to around Rs 12.5 lakh per day, have not been duly considered.