NH-544: Kerala High Court Lifts Suspension Of Toll Collection At Paliyekkara

The Kerala High Court today lifted suspension of toll collection at Paliyekkara Toll Plaza (Thrissur district) on NH-544 highway.

More than two months have lapsed since toll collection was suspended by the High Court, following a 12-hour blockade purportedly due to ongoing construction projects sanctioned by National Highway Authority of India (NHAI).

The division bench comprising Justice A Muhamed Mustaque and Justice Harisankar V Menon passed the order on condition that enhanced fee shall not be collected without further orders from the Court.

"We are not closing this matter. Matter has to be taken up in appropriate time for certain directions. At the same time we have concern to the fact that the construction if not allowed to collect the toll, it may rise to multiple litigation. It is a matter to be adjudicated. We also do not want public to be looser in this situation. Though adequate measures have been taken though not sufficient. We are of the view that the suspension order had to be revoked with further directions and conditions." the bench noted

The Court appreciated the works of the Interim Traffic Management Committee constituted to devise an interim traffic management plan on the congested stretch in NH 544 and conduct traffic inspection in the stretch.

"The interim Committee constituted by this Court, swung in action in many instances to report before this Court, the actual scenario that exists in this stretch. The District Collector who is the convener of the committee has done a wonderful work in monitoring and supervising and has given timely supervision and direction to NHAI." the bench observed

Previously, the Court had criticised Centre's proposal to increase tariff on the said stretch of NH 544, despite "evident road safety concerns".

"Severe congestion persist in multilevel...We don't know who is the loser in this game but we can't allow the commuters to be losers," it had said.

Solicitor General of India Tushar Mehta appearing for the Central government had urged the Court to lift the suspension, stating that the situation on the ground had “substantially improved” and that vehicular movement along the stretch was now largely smooth except for minor congestion in isolated pockets.

He noted that the problem was confined to “three or four kilometres” of the total 65-kilometre stretch and argued that halting toll collection for the entire length was causing financial and administrative difficulties for the NHAI.

The recorded that Additional Solicitor General has ensured the safety concerns would be resolved without any delay and has directed the Interim Committee to report whether the safety concerns in the report are addressed and remedied by next posting. 

The matter is posted after two weeks. 

Case Title - Shaji J Kodankadath v Union of India and connected cases

Case No - WP(C) 20253/2021 and connected cases

Counsel for Petitioners - K B Gangesh, Smitha Chathanarambath, Amal S Kumar, Athira A Menon, John Varghese, V Praveen, Sonu Augustine, Premchand M, Sreelakshmi Sabu, P K Subhash, Anoop V Nair, Tanoosha Paul

Counsel for Respondents - O M Shalina (DSG), Nanavati Maulik G, Arun Thomas, Jennis Stephen, Anil Sebastian Pulickel, P Martin Jose, P Prijith, Thomas P Kurivila, Ajay Ben Jose, Manjunath Menon, Hani P Nair, R Githesh, Sachin Jacob Ambat, Anna Lind Eden, Harikrishnan S, Mathews K Philip, T C Krishna, C Dinesh, B G Bidan Chandran, Mathews Nevin Thomas, Kurian Antony Mathew, R Githesh, Sachin Jacob Ambat, N Manoj Kumar (State Attorney), C Harikumar, Sandra Sunny, Arun Kumar M A, Farah Jyothi Pradeep, Anavadya Sanil Kumar, Anjali Krishna