New Delhi: In a huge relief to citizens, the Supreme Court on Thursday made it clear that full toll tax cannot be levied by private companies or authorities from road users, if the roads are bad.
Justice T.S. Thakur, heading a bench with Justice Kurian Joseph, observed: “If roads are bad, why should people suffer and pay toll tax? Why should the common man suffer because of the government’s bad policy (or policy lapse in laying roads)?”
The bench was hearing an appeal relating to high levy of toll tax between Raipur and Durg in Chattisgarh despite the fact that the road was in a bad condition.
The state government had asked the company maintaining the National Highway-6 to collect only 40 per cent of the toll on the ground that the company had not maintained the highway properly.
