The National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) has filed a lawsuit against the Punjab and Haryana High Court claiming that protestors prevented the collection of toll fees “illegally”.
NHAI suffered a loss of around Rs 1348.77 crores when it was closed for 440 days from October 1, 2020 to December 15, 2021 by an agitating union, according to the petition against the state, the director-general of police, and eight deputy commissioners.
The NHAI stated in its petition before Justice Vinod S Bhardwaj that the protesters preventing toll fee collection resulted in a significant loss of revenue for the Central government.
A directive was also requested to the respondents to take action to restore law and order, facilitate and support the collection of toll fees from toll plazas within Punjab by providing security and administrative assistance to ensure smooth functioning “against a forceful stoppage of toll plazas and illegal operation of the same by certain protestors”.
