Wed Feb 26 15:54:22 UTC 2025: ## Madras High Court Orders Removal of Shenbagampettai Toll Plaza
**Madurai, February 26, 2025** – The Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court has ordered the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) to remove the Shenbagampettai toll plaza in Sivaganga district, located on NH 36. The court ruled that the plaza’s proximity to the Lembalakudi toll plaza violated Rule 8(2) of the National Highway (Determination of Rates and Collection) Rules, 2008, which prohibits the establishment of toll plazas within 60 km of each other on the same highway section and direction.
The ruling came after an appeal against a single bench order. While the single bench had ordered the relocation of the Lembalakudi toll plaza, the division bench, comprising Justices G.R. Swaminathan and M. Jothiraman, reversed this decision. The court noted that although initially on different highway numbers (NH 210 and NH 226), renumbering of national highways in 2020 placed both toll plazas on the newly designated NH 36. The court found the Shenbagampettai toll plaza, established in 2017, to be in violation of the 60km rule as it lies only 23 km from the Lembalakudi plaza, established in 2011. Therefore, the court deemed the subsequent establishment of the Shenbagampettai toll plaza illegal and mandated its removal.
First Piper 