The Bombay High Court on Wednesday directed the Maharashtra Government to file its para-wise reply to public interest litigation seeking a direction to the Maharashtra Government to revoke the contractor’s right to collect toll on the Mumbai-Pune Expressway till August 2019.
Hearing a PIl filed by social activist Pravin Wategaonkar and three others, a HC Bench of Chief Justice Manjula Chellur and Justice Justice GS Kulkarni directed the State Government to file para-wise replies to the petition on behalf of the chief Secretary, Public Works department and Anti-Corruption Bureau and also asked the Managing Director of Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation (MSRDC) and other respondent Messrs Mhaiskar Infrastructure Pvt ltd separate replies within six weeks.
The Chief Justice directed the petitioners to delete the name of the Chief Minister as a respondent from the petition, as the State had already been made a respondent through the chief secretary.
The HC also rejected a plea the State’s Advocate Abhinandan Vagyani for making the Union Government as a respondent in the petition.
On his part, Advocate for State Vagyani had urged the court that the petitioners should make Union of India a party as there is a tri-party agreement between the State, the Union Governments and the MSRDC.
“The petitioner is directed to delete the name of Hon’ble Chief Minister as Respondent. State is already made a respondent through Chief Secretary. Adv for the State says that the petitioner needs to add Union of India as a party. We do not think so,” the chief justice noted.
Directing the respondents to make available advance copies of their say to the petitioners, the HC bench kept the hearing of the PIl after eight weeks, while allowing the petitioners two weeks’ time to file a rejoinder in the matter.
Appearing on behalf of the petitioners, Wategaonkar told the high court that the total contracted Toll Income of Rs 2869 crore had already been achieved due to explosive growth in traffic and there was wrongful gain to the contractor of Rs 346 crore so far.
The four petitioners ---Wategaonkar, Shinivas Ghanekarm Vivek Velankar and Sanjay Shirodkar - had in their petition filed on April 19 had also urged the high court to call for documents and records in respect of closing 12 Toll plazas and granting exemption to lMVs from payment of toll at 53 other Toll nakas across the state.
The petitioners had urged the HC bench to examine the legality, validity and propriety
And declare the procedure followed in abolishing Toll/ granting exemption to lMVs from payment of Toll as violation of mandate of article 14, read with article 19(1)(g) and Article 21 of the Constitution; illegal and void The petitioners had also urged the high court to seek explanation from the State Anti-Corruption Bureau for its failure to perform its duty in the matter.
In their petitioner, the four activists stated that owing to the lack of any response from the concerned authorities, they had on January 18 last year sent a notice to Maharashtra chief minister Devendra Fadnavis, PWD Minister Eknath Shinde and Managing Director of MSRDC Radheshyam Mopalwar intimating them of criminal liability, both individually and collectively, for their failure to revoke right to collect toll on the MumbaiPune expressway since the contractor had earned Contracted Total Toll income of Rs. 2869 crore on government property - the Mumbai-PuneExpressway.
The respondents’ failure to revoke the right to collect toll had already led to wrongful gain of about Rs. 54 crore by December 2016 and their acts/omissions allowed the contractor to make wrongful gain on government property, the Mumbai-Pune Expressway, everyday of about Rs. 1.5 crore.(without considering underreporting of toll income), the petitioners stated.
According to the petitioners, MSRDC wrote to them on February 22, 2017, expressing its inability to revoke the contractor’s right to collect toll primarily citing a substitution agreement signed with the contractor and lending banks for the project.
“This is a misleading argument on part of MSRDC as a substitution agreement comes into play only in the event of a default by the current contractor. However considering that the entire toll collection target due to be achieved the August 2019 was already achieved as of November 2016 the question of contractor’s default or the underlying asset the Mumbai-Pune expressway underperforming in terms of Toll Collection does not arise,” the petitioners had contended.