New Delhi: Expressing reluctance to entertain the petition filed by the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI), the Kerala High Court's order that suspended the toll collection at the Paliyekkara toll plaza in Thrissur, the Supreme Court asked the national agency how it can collect the toll when the roads are in a pathetic condition.

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.

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

"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.

Solicitor General of India Tushar Mehta, representing the NHAI, stated that the highway authority was primarily aggrieved by the High Court's ruling, which allowed the concessionaire to recover losses from the NHAI due to the suspension of toll collection.

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.

"There is a 65 km road. The dispute is with respect to 2.85 km. This highway was constructed by NHAI. There are intersections that are blind spots, where we have to make either underpasses or flyovers," Mehta told the court.

"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 after 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 a protest staged by a person who was unable to attend his father-in-law's funeral due to a 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 an appeal and wasting time, you do something," Justice Vinod Chandran said. SG assured that the work was progressing.

"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.
(With LiveLaw inputs)