New Delhi, July 29 (Reporter) The Supreme Court on Monday allowed the National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) to retain the toll wrongly collected from the provisionally completed section of Muzaffarpur-Sonbarsa National Highway-77 observing that the toll already collected will be impossible to return to the road users. A three-Judge Bench Comprising Justice Sanjiv Khanna, Justice Sanjay Kumar and Justice R. Mahadevan set aside a High Court judgment that directed the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) to not levy and collect any fee from the users at Runni Toll Plaza on the Muzaffarpur-Sonbarsa section of National Highway-77. According to “Rule 3(1) of the 2008 Rules, which refers to the section of the national highway being complete and, thereupon, the highway users can be asked to pay the prescribed fee by way of toll.” NHAI challenged the High Court order asserting that to levy any fee was within their right to collect the tax till the completion of the highway project. The Tax was collected under Rule 3(1) of the National Highways Fee (Determination of Rates and Collection) Rules, 2008 (Rules), the NHAI had pleaded. An independent contractor, Intercontinental Consultants and Technocrats Pvt. Ltd. issued a provisional completion certificate in 2015. The Court noted that the tolls had been collected by NHAI based on the completed portions of the highway under a "Build, Operate, and Transfer" basis, with the contractor being paid an annuity. The toll collection was necessary to recover the capital costs, with a provision to reduce the toll fee to 40% once these costs were recovered, the court observed. The top Court ruled that “The toll/fee, which has been collected is available in the bank, and it will be impossible to return the same to the road users. The Apex Court held that if they pass any order to modify the interim order, it would be, detrimental and harmful to the road users as additional amounts would have to be collected to make up for the cost of the highway,” The Court said. The Court then directed that the amount lying in the nationalized bank along with interest may now be utilized by NHAI and would be treated as toll/fee collected from the users. It will be accounted towards the actual cost to be recovered, the court said...////...