Perpetual Toll Collection Arbitrary; No Entity Can't Be Allowed Unjust Enrichment At Public Cost : Supreme Court In DND Flyway Case
Live LawRejecting the plea for imposition of tolls on commuters of Delhi Noida Direct flyway, the Supreme Court recently observed that no entity can be allowed to profit unjustly at the cost of public suffering. "The golden principle thus is that Government procedures or policies pioneered in public interest must genuinely serve the public and not merely enrich private entities.It seems to us that no person or entity can be allowed to make an undue and unjust profit from public property, at the cost of the public at large.The contract awarded to NTBCL through the Concession Agreement by State authorities and NOIDA was unfair, unjust and inconsistent with Constitutional norms", said a bench of Justices Surya Kant and Ujjal Bhuyan. Dismissing Noida Toll Bridge Company Ltd.'s appeal against an Allahabad High Court judgment of 2016, which struck down the concessionaire agreement in its favor, the Court said: "The general public has been forced to part with hundreds of crores by IL&FS and NTBCL, under the guise of providing necessary public infrastructure.since NTBCL has recovered the costs of the project and substantial profits thereon by virtue of imposition of user fees/tolls and given the existing position of law, we find no error in the High Court's judgment and its directions in restraining the imposition and collection of user fees/tolls." Emphasizing on the importance of authorities' fairness in public infrastructure projects, the Court added: "When a state undertakes a project involving an overwhelming public element, comprising of public funds and public assets, its actions must remain free of arbitrariness and remain grounded in a just, transparent and a well-defined policy.
History of this topic
SC dismisses NTBCL plea; scraps toll collection on DND flyway
New Indian Express
Delhi-Noida Flyway Case Closed, SC Upholds Ban On Toll Collection
ABP News
'Defrauding Public, NOIDA's Agreement Arbitrary' : Supreme Court Rejects Plea To Levy Toll On Delhi-Noida Direct Flyway Commuters
Live Law
Delhi-Noida DND flyway to remain toll free, rules Supreme Court
India Today
Supreme Court Permits Noida Toll Bridge Co. Ltd. To Put Up Advertisements On Noida Side Of DND Flyway
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