HC: NHAI officers behave like dictators

Ahmedabad: The bench of Chief Justice Sunita Agarwal and Justice Aniruddha Mayee on Thursday slammed the top officials of the National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) by terming them “dictators”, for resorting to unnecessary litigation resulting in delayed payment of compensation to landowners in acquisition cases and delayed projects. Dismissing an the NHAI’s appeal against an arbitration tribunal’s order for payment of compensation to a landowner in Amreli district, the judges remarked that their belief has been reaffirmed that because of NHAI’s “whims and vehemence” neither can people use their land nor can NHAI complete its projects in time. The CJ told the NHAI lawyer, “They (NHAI officers) are state authorities. They should behave like state authorities. Please communicate this to them… People are crying because of the way they are behaving. You are behaving like dictators. This is the brainchild of an officer sitting at the helm of affairs…We are talking about the highest official, not local officials. My experience is that this is all the whims and vehemence of the highest officials of the NHAI.”TNN
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