'When Road Is In Bad Condition, How Toll Can Be Collected?': Supreme Court Asks NHAI Over Toll Collection At Paliyekkara In NH 544

The Supreme Court on Thursday (August 14) expressed reluctance to entertain the petition filed by the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) challenging the judgment of the Kerala High Court which suspended the toll collection at the Paliyekkara toll plaza in Thrissur district along National Highway 544 due to the bad condition of the highway.

Both Chief Justice of India BR Gavai and Justice K Vinod Chandran, the members of the two-judge bench, said that they have personally experienced the bad condition of the road stretch.

Solicitor General of India Tushar Mehta said that the NHAI was primarily aggrieved with the High Court stating that the concessionaire can recover from the NHAI the losses it suffered due to the suspension of the toll collection. "My worry is they(concessionaire) will claim from me(NHAI), though it is their responsibility[to maintain the road]," SG said.

CJI Gavai said, "When the road is in such a bad condition... I had occasion to travel in it. You take the toll from the people and don't provide the services..."

"The service road is not being maintained. It is not the concessionaire's responsibility. That is the finding of the High Court" Justice Chandran said. SG replied that, as per the O&M contract, the liability is on the concessionaire. 

The counsel for the concessionaire said that there were five blind spots identified by the authorities, which do not come within their scope of work. "I am maintaining the Highway as per the agreement," the counsel said.

SG pointed out that the concessionaire has also filed a Special Leave Petition which is not listed today. "We will dismiss both," CJI said. When the SG requested for a posting to Monday, CJI asked, "You want to postpone the dismissal?"

"We will clarify that if there is any dispute between the NHAI and the concessionaire, it be determined as per the law, whether arbitration or otherwise," CJI said.

In an attempt to persuade the bench, the SG explained :. 

"There is a 65 kilometre road. The dispute is with respect to 2.85 kilometers. This a highway constructed by NHAI. There are intersections which are blind spots, where we have to make either underpasses or flyovers."

"You had to do it at the planning stage itself. Before completing the road, you start collecting the toll?" CJI remarked. SG said that the intersections came subsequent to the highway.

Justice Vinod Chandran however pointed out that the intersections specified by the NHAI, such as Muningoor, Amballoor, Perambra, Koratty, Chirangara etc., are quite far from the toll booth. Justice Chandran also referred to a Malayalam news report about the protest staged by a person after he could not attend his father-in-law's funeral due to the traffic block at the toll booth.

"The entire problem occurs because there is a big block there. There is a bottleneck. Often, even ambulances cannot pass. That is the problem. The High Court has only suspended for four weeks. Instead of filing appeal and wasting time, you do something," Justice Vinod Chandran said. SG assured that the work was under progress.

"Without completing the road, how can you start the toll? I also had the opportunity to travel by that road once," CJI Gavai said. "My learned brother also knows the area very well," CJI added.

SG said that the highway was constructed long back and the five intersections came subsequently. "There is no difficulty with the highway. The difficulty is with the intersections. To resolve the blindspots, we are constructing overbridges and underpasses at the intersections, which came subsequent to the Highway. For that purpose, we have constructed the service road. Because when work is going on, the highway cannot be used and service road has to be used. The congestion is in the service road. That is the issue," SG stated.

"The congestion in the blindspots in the intersection are quite distant from the toll area. They are obliged to do maintenance only with respect to the toll area. Not with respect to the service road," Justice Chandran said. SG then requested a posting on Monday to show the locations of work from the map.

The bench said that it was not prima facie inclined to entertain the challenge. The bench said that it will clarify that the inter-se dispute between the NHAI and the concessionaire can be resolved through arbitration. "We will leave issue open to be decided in arbitration between NHAI and the concessionaire. Arbitrators will be benefited, the lawyers will be benefited. Why should the citizens be put to unnecessary hardships?" CJI said.

CJI pointed out that the High Court has been prodding the authorities to resolve the issue since February and that the judgment was passed after there was no positive response.

Senior Advocate Shyam Divan, for the concessionaire Guruvayoor Infrastructure Ltd, said that they have also filed a petition challenging the High Court's judgment and requested that it be posted on Monday.  The matter was ultimately posted to Monday.

Senior Advocate Jayant Muthuraj represented the petitioners who were in the High Court.

By the judgment dated August 6, a division bench of the Kerala High Court ordered the suspension of toll collection for four weeks on the ground that the Edapally-Mannuthy stretch was badly maintained and was facing severe traffic congestion due to the delay in the execution of works.

The Court observed that toll fees cannot be collected from the public when access to highway is hindered due to ill-maintained roads and consequent traffic congestion.

"It is to be remembered that the public is obliged to pay the user fees at the toll for using the highway. It casts responsibility on the National Highways Authority to ensure smooth traffic without any barrier created by the NHAI or by its agents, who are the concessionaires. This relationship between the Public and the NHAI is bound by the tie of public trust. The moment it is breached or violated, the right to collect toll fees from the public created through statutory provisions cannot be forced on the public," the High Court observed.

Case Details : NATIONAL HIGHWAY AUTHORITY OF INDIA AND ANR. Versus O.J JANEESH AND ORS| SLP(C) No. 22579/2025