Right to Information (RTI) activist Pravin Wategaonkar on Monday moved the Bombay High court seeking quashing of "false evidence" produced by the officers of the Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation (MSRDC) officers that they were yet to recover a cost `22,370 crore towards the Mumbai-Pune Expressway project.
In a civil application filed before a HC bench of Chief Justice Dipankar Datta and Justice M.S.Karnik, Wategaonkar urged the high court to quash of the MSRDC’s document claiming outstanding cost of about Rs. 22370 crore, registration of case against MSRDC Officers for fabricating false evidence and quashing of the toll notification.
In his other prayer, the petitioner urged the high court that pending final disposal of the application, the respondent contractor who is an agent of the state, to deposit toll revenue in the Court forthwith, to be retained in an escrow account.
Wategaonkar has filed the application as part of a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) filed by himself and three other petitioners -- Sanjay Shirodkar, Vivek Velankar & Shrinivas Ghanekar, which challenges toll collection on Mumbai-Pune Expressway.
Wategonkar’s application will come up for hearing before the Chief Justice-headed bench on December 20.
Among others, the petitioners in the original PIL have urged the court to declare the levy of toll on Mumbai-Pune Expressway since about August 10, 2019, which is ultra vires of the Motor Vehicle tax Act, 1958 and Art. 265 of the Constitution, illegal, pending final hearing of the petition, grants exemption from payment of toll to LMVs (cars, Jeep etc), a policy implemented in 65 other projects.
The petitioners stated that the cost of the Mumbai-Pune Expressway project cost had been recovered and continued levy of toll was illegal. MSRDC filed a reply affidavit claiming entitlement of Internal Rate of Return (IRR) of 16 per cent on its investments and that they are yet to recover project cost of Rs.22370.22 crore.
Later, the high court directed Comptroller and Auditor General of India to file a comprehensive reply affidavit after inquiring into accounts of MSRDC
The petitioners alleged that the MSRDC had fabricated false evidence to claim outstanding project cost of about Rs.22,370.22 crore and IRR of 16 per cent.
According to Wategaiokar, the MSRDC had in a agreement executed with Union of India had assigned Rs.704.55 crore common portion cost of Mumbai-Pune section of National Highway-4(NH4) and the Mumbai-Pune Expressway, out of the total project cost of Rs. 2150 crore, to the said agreement. “MSRDC has suppressed this assignment of Rs. 704.55 crore and taken into account the entire cost again to claim outstanding cost of about Rs. 22370.22 crore,” Wategaonkar said in his application.
The petitioners said that in 2004 MSRDC had submitted proposal to Cabinet Infrastructure Committee(CIC) seeking permission to levy toll on both NH 4 and Expressway and stated therein that this would enable it to recover the project cost in 22 years, based on its own assessment as well as on the basis of study by Ernst & Young(E&Y). E & Y assessed capital cost recovery in 22 years with IRR of 9%.
On their part, the petitioners have produced a copy of the said E&Y report.
In the document produced in Court MSRDC claims an IRR of 16 per cent whereas before CIC it has produced a study based on 9 per cent IRR with capital recovery in 22 years.
Among other things, Wategaonkar’s application also places on records reply to RTI application disclosing non-execution of formal Build, Operate, Transfer(BOT) agreement between the Maharashtra government and MSRDC required by law before issuance of Toll notification on Mumbai-Pune Expressway.