Supreme Court pulled up NHAI after a 12-hour traffic jam on Kerala’s NH-544, questioning toll charges for poor roads. CJI Gavai also said, “The city becomes paralysed if it rains for two hours.”
New Delhi: On August 18, the issue of bad road conditions and long traffic jams once again came before the Supreme Court during a case related to the Paliyakkara toll plaza in Thrissur, Kerala. The matter reached the apex court after the Kerala High Court had ordered a temporary halt in toll collection on the Edappally–Mannuthy stretch of National Highway 544 due to its poor condition.
The National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) challenged this order.
During the hearing, the Supreme Court bench comprising Chief Justice of India BR Gavai and Justices K Vinod Chandran and NV Anjaria made strong remarks about the difficulties faced by common travellers on highways.
The judges highlighted how badly managed roads and traffic jams make life miserable for commuters, especially when they are still asked to pay toll for such experiences.
Pointing to recent chaos in the national capital itself, CJI Gavai observed,
“The city becomes paralysed if it rains for two hours.”
This was in reference to heavy rains in Delhi last week which had caused severe waterlogging and traffic jams across the city.
The judges also noted a report about a massive traffic jam in Kerala where people were stranded for 12 hours on the national highway.
Referring to this, the bench said it was unfair to ask commuters to pay full toll charges under such conditions.
The court asked,
“Why one should pay toll after spending 12 hours to reach one end of the road from another?”
Representing NHAI, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta defended the authority and explained that the incident was beyond their control. He said it was “an act of God” as a truck had overturned on the highway, leading to the massive traffic jam.
However, Justice Chandran was quick to point out that the accident was caused due to the poor road condition.
He remarked,
“The truck didn’t overturn on its own; it had overturned after falling into a pit.”
The Solicitor General tried to explain that service roads were provided as alternate routes where underpasses were under construction, but work was delayed because of the heavy monsoon.
The Chief Justice then asked about the toll amount for the 65-kilometre stretch of road. When he was informed that commuters were paying Rs 150 as toll, he raised a sharp question:
“Why a person should pay Rs 150 as toll if he needs 12 hours to cover a road that would have taken only one hour without traffic?”
In response, the Solicitor General referred to an earlier judgment, arguing that instead of refunding toll, charges could be reduced proportionately. But Justice Chandran replied in a lighter tone, saying,
“For 12 hours, the NHAI should rather compensate the traveller.”
The bench made it clear that proportionate reduction was not a practical solution in extreme situations like this. As the judges explained,
“If there is no traffic, it will take a maximum of one hour to cover this part. If there is traffic, it will take a maximum of three hours. There is no question of proportionate reduction for 12 hours.”
During the arguments, lawyers also brought up another local example of heavy traffic – it takes about an hour to reach the court through the E Gate, which remains heavily congested at all times.
The larger concern of traffic management was again highlighted by CJI Gavai who reminded about Delhi’s condition. He remarked,
“If it rains for two hours, the city becomes paralysed.”
Earlier, on August 6, the Kerala High Court had suspended toll collection on NH-544 for four weeks citing poor road conditions. Challenging this, Solicitor General Mehta had argued that the High Court was wrong in allowing the contractor company to recover damages from NHAI.
According to him,
“the court wrongly allowed the contractor company to recover damages from NHAI.”
He further added that under the agreement, the responsibility for maintaining the road rested with the contractor itself.
When the matter came up on August 14, the Supreme Court had already expressed hesitation to interfere with the High Court’s order. The top court had clearly told NHAI that rather than wasting time in filing appeals, the authority must focus on fixing the bad conditions of highways.
The bench strongly observed that poor road conditions were causing extreme difficulties, even to ambulances carrying patients, during such long traffic jams.
The Supreme Court has now reserved its order in the case.
CASE TITLE:
NATIONAL HIGHWAY AUTHORITY OF INDIA AND ANR. vs O.J JANEESH AND ORS
SLP(C) No. 22579/2025
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