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A Supreme Court bench of Justices L.N. Rao and  B.R. Gavai today permitted Noida Toll Bridge Company Ltd. to put up advertisements on the NOIDA side of the Delhi- Noida-Delhi Flyway.

The order has been passed against the backdrop of the removal of the advertisement hoardings on the DND Flyway by the NOIDA Authority on the basis that the Noida Toll Bridge Co. Ltd. had not been paying the license fee under the Advertisement Policies of the NOIDA Authority.

Dr. A.M. Singhvi and Mr. Siddharth Bhatnagar, Senior Advocates appearing on behalf of the Noida Toll Bridge Co. Ltd. argued that the NOIDA Authority had removed and confiscated the property of the company with the sole aim to irreparably harm the financial assets of the Company (i.e. the revenue stream from advertisements) and undermine and negate the continued viability of the company as a going concern.

Petitioners relied on the Judgement of High Court of Allahabad dated 26th October 2016 by which the collection of tolls on the DND Flyway was discontinued, thus making the Company solely reliant on advertisement revenues for operations including maintenance of the Bridge and to make the necessary provisions for traffic and security arrangements.

Reliance was also place by the petitioners on the  data from its audited balance sheets to establish that the company was reeling under major financial stress in view of the general economic slowdown brought about by the Covid-19 pandemic, and therefore, was heavily reliant on the advertisement revenue to meet its day to day operation and maintenance expenses. It was also argued before the that the rate of license fee being charged by the NOIDA Authority was increased from Rs. 50/sq. ft. in 2010 (when the same was first charged) to Rs. 125/sq. ft. in 2013, which was paid by the Company under protest. However, vide a letter dated 31.12.2018 addressed by the NOIDA Authority, the license fees for permission to display advertisement along the DND Flyway was further increased, on a retrospective basis from 01.04.2018, at substantially increased rate of Rs. 300/sq. ft. (i.e. an approximate increase 500% from the rate of Rs. 50/sq. ft. in 2010).  

The bench on hearing the submissions allowed the application filed by Noida Toll Bridge Co. Ltd. to put up advertisements on the NOIDA side subject to a license fee payment of Rs. 125/sq. Ft. The bench has further directed NOIDA Authority to not take any coercive steps in this regard against the Company and has directed the matters to be listed for final hearing in March, 2022 on a fixed day.

Dr. A.M. Singhvi and Mr. Siddharth Bhatnagar, Ld. Sr. Advs. were briefed on behalf of the Noida Toll Bridge Co. Ltd. by a team from Karanjawala & Co. Advocates led by  Nandini Gore, Senior Partner,  Sonia Nigam, Natasha Sahrawat and Tahira Karanjawala, Principal Associates,  Arjun Sharma, Senior Associate and Karanveer Singh Anand, Associate. 

Case title: Noida Toll Bridge Company Ltd Vs Federation on Noida Residents Welfare Association & Ors