DND to remain toll-free till SC order

Legal Correspondent

New Delhi, October 28

Delhi-Noida-Delhi (DND) flyover will remain toll-free, pending Supreme Court's ruling on a plea by the Noida Toll Bridge Company.

The company has come to the SC, challenging Allahabad High Court's October 26 verdict abolishing the toll on the flyover across the Yamuna river.

Appearing for the company, senior counsel Abhishekh Singhvi pleaded that the HC had passed the order by misunderstanding and miscalculating the provisions of the Build-Operate-Transfer (BOT) contract, signed in the early stages of economic liberalisation initiated in 1991.

The High Court had failed to take into account the company's liabilities in servicing its loans taken for the construction of the flyover at a cost of about Rs 1,100 crore and its regular maintenance and overhead expenses since it was made operational in 2001.