New Delhi: The Punjab and Haryana High Court today restrained
toll tax collection on the Delhi-Gurgaon expressway for the next 15
days, saying the concessionaire had failed to avoid chaos and free flow
of traffic on the highway. The suspension was made effective from midnight. The Division Bench comprising Acting Chief Justice Jasbir Singh and Justice Rakesh Kumar Jain passed the order after Delhi-Gurgaon Super Connectivity Limited (DSCL), the stake holder, failed to comply with its order of finding a solution to the problem of congestion on the toll plaza.
Fixing September 20 as the date for next hearing of the case, the court directed the National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) to hold meeting with the state government andDSCL management to discuss over the issue.
The court, on August 16, had asked the company to put additional collection windows and deploy personnel with hand held collection machines for smooth traffic movement.
With the company failing to comply with the order, the court had sternly warned it of suspending collection of taxes, and had sirected the Gurgaon traffic police to file a status report on the steps taken by the company in this regard.
Today's order came after the Gurgaon traffic police submitted its report, holding that the private body lacked the required staff to deal with the problem.
It also accused the concessionaire of being unwilling to spend money for expansion of infrastructure.
