The anti-toll movement gathered momentum in Maharashtra on Wednesday, as four leading road activists moved the Bombay High Court requesting a direction to the Maharashtra Government to revoke the contractor’s right to collect toll on the Mumbai-Pune Expressway till August 2019.
After the petitioners made a mention of their case before the court, a HC Bench of chief justice Manjula Chellur and Justice Justice GS Kulkarni allowed the petitioners to serve notices to the Maharashtra Government and the contractor — Messrs. Mhaiskar Infrastructure Pvt. ltd.
The four petitioners — Pravin P Wategaonkar, Shinivas Ghanekarm Vivek Velankar and Sanjay Shirodkar — 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 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.
They also urged the high court to seek explanation from the Starte 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 Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation (MSRDC) Radheshyam Mopalwar intimating them of criminal liability, both individually and collectively, for their failure to revoke right to collect toll on the Mumbai Pune expressway since the contractor had earned Contracted Total Toll income of Rs. 2869 crore on government property – the Mumbai-Pune Expressway.
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 contended.
The petition will come up for hearing on April 25, on which the HC bench has asked the Maharashtra government and the contractor to have their say in the matter.