New Delhi: The Delhi-Noida-Delhi freeway will be toll free as the Supreme Court on Friday refused to stay an order of the Allahabad high court quashing the collection of toll on this freeway holding that the contractor had collected more than what he had invested for the project.
A bench of Chief Justice T.S. Thakur and Justices A.M. Kanwilkar and L. Nageswara Rao, dismissing the contractor’s interim application for stay of the judgment, said it did not agree with the submission that the petitioner that it would suffer irreparable loss if the judgment of the high court is not stayed.
The bench said it will be impossible to provide restitution to the lakhs of commuters from whom the fee would be collected to repay them in the event of dismissal of the SLP. On the other hand, if the petitioner succeeds, it can be compensated suitably by extension of time. The balance of convenience is also against the petitioner. “Therefore, we are not inclined to grant the interim relief as prayed for.”
Ordering scrutiny of the accounts of the project, the bench said that conflicting claims have been made regarding the recovery of the total cost of the project by the concessionaire. To resolve the dispute, it is appropriate that an independent agency is requested to examine the relevant records of the DND flyway. The said agency should examine the reports of the independent auditors appointed by the Petitioner and submit a report regarding the correctness of the petitioner’s claim that the total cost of the project has not been recovered. The bench asked the Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG) to verify the claim of the petitioner that the total cost of the project has not been recovered and submit a report within four weeks. The CAG shall be at liberty to call for and examine all such records having a bearing on the financial aspects, as it requires to facilitate its decision. This will include matters and information pertaining to all the benefits which have flowed to the petitioner under the agreement, including the utilisation, if any. The petitioner shall co-operate with the CAG, the bench said. It also noted that “the concessionaire, according to their own financial statements, has recovered Rs 810.18 crore (approx) from toll income from the date of commencement of the project till March 31, 2014 and after deduction of operation and maintenance expenses and corporate income tax, the surplus was Rs 578.80 crore.”
