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Why Pay Taxes For Bad Roads, Asks Supreme Court

No Toll For Pothole, Rules Supreme Court
A bus travels along the Leh Manali highway in Ladakh region, Jammu and Kashmir, India, on Saturday, Aug. 8, 2015. India is scheduled to release second-quarter gross domestic product figures on Aug. 31. Photographer: Prashanth Vishwanathan/Bloomberg via Getty Images
Bloomberg via Getty Images
A bus travels along the Leh Manali highway in Ladakh region, Jammu and Kashmir, India, on Saturday, Aug. 8, 2015. India is scheduled to release second-quarter gross domestic product figures on Aug. 31. Photographer: Prashanth Vishwanathan/Bloomberg via Getty Images

The Supreme Court on Thursday questioned the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) and the Central Government over collecting toll from the common man for the highways which were in bad condition.

“Why should people pay the toll? Should they pay toll for bad roads? If the roads are bad, it is because of lack of will and policy of the government. They should do something. If concessionaires are not repairing the roads, then also the government should make sure the work is done,” said a two-judge Bench of Justice TS Thakur and Justice Kurian Joseph.

The matter came to light when a case relating to the high toll on the badly-maintained 26-km Raipur-Durg stretch on NH-53 came before the SC. "General public should not be made to suffer on both counts - bad roads and hefty toll," the bench added.

The Supreme Court ordered the Central Government to repair the road by asking it to utilise Rs 11 crore the concessionaires had deposited in the bank, according to NDTV. The SC also reduced the toll to 20 percent on the said stretch of the National Highway 53.

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