A bench comprising Justices Prashant Kumar Mishra and Manmohan issued notice to V Balakrishnan, a retired Tamil Nadu Generation and Distribution Corporation assistant executive engineer from Tuticorin district, on whose plea the Madras High Court passed the order.
The top court’s direction came after additional solicitor general N Venkataraman, appearing for the NHAI, sought a stay on the high court order.
Senior advocate P Wilson, appearing for the petitioner, opposed the plea, calling toll collection “daylight robbery”.
The apex court was hearing an appeal filed by the NHAI against high court’s June 3 order, restraining the authority from collecting toll while observing that the stretch hadn’t been properly maintained aside from the saplings not being planted on both sides of the road.
The high court acted on a PIL filed by Balakrishnan who claimed that the contract for the Madurai-Tuticorin highway was awarded in 2006 and the stretch was made operational in 2011.
He referred to the contract and argued the contractor was supposed to plant saplings on both sides and on the centre median but it was only partially done.
The contractor collected tolls from two toll plazas from the date of usage of the roads but failed to maintain the road as many portions of the stretch were not commutable owing to poor maintenance, Balakrishnan said. PTI PKS SJK AMK AMK
