Trident Ltd's apprehension that PPCB raid stems from political vendetta appears 'reasonably palpable': HC

The Punjab and Haryana High Court Friday observed that the apprehension of Trident Limited, whose Chairman Emeritus is MP Rajinder Gupta, that a raid at its unit by the Punjab Pollution Control Board on April 30 stems from political vendetta ''appears reasonably palpable''. A bench of Chief Justice Sheel Nagu and Justice Sanjiv Berry also granted relief to the company, issuing directions to the PPCB that coercive steps be taken only after giving reasonable opportunity of 30 days to the company for ''rectifying any minor deficiencies''. Rajya Sabha member Gupta is the Chairman Emeritus of the company. He is one of the seven MPs who recently quit the AAP and joined the BJP. The court, in its order, held that the PPCB failed to show any emergent situation where any stream, well, land or environment is being polluted by poisonous effluents. Trident Limited had moved the high court after the PPCB conducted the raid operation at its premises on April 30. Disposing of the petition, the bench also granted liberty to the petitioner company to approach the National Green Tribunal in case any coercive steps are taken by the PPCB. In its petition, the company had submitted that it was aggrieved by the arbitrary, coercive, and mala fide actions of the respondents in conducting ''an unprecedented raid'' at the manufacturing premises on April 30. The action was taken ''without prior notice, without any communicated violation, and in complete disregard of the principles of natural justice,'' according to the plea. During the hearing, petitioner's counsels Munisha Gandhi, Viraj Gandhi and Adarsh K Dubey contended that the entire raid conducted on April 30 was motivated by ''political vendetta'' rather than genuine environmental concerns thereby vitiating the powers so exercised. The petitioner had also sought a direction to send the seized samples to a Central Testing Laboratory outside Punjab and not to any laboratory within the state. Senior counsel D S Patwalia, representing the PPCB, relied upon the rule 32(6) of the Punjab Water Rules, and contended that where likelihood of a grave injury to the environment is palpable, then the need to provide prior opportunity of being heard can be waived. After hearing the counsels, the court stated that it is not inclined to enter into the merits of the dispute raised herein. ''However, an issue which deserves consideration is that of the timing of the raid conducted on April 30 by a team of officers of respondent No.2/Board (PPCB), which is in close proximity to the switching of political allegiance by Rajinder Gupta from Aam Aadmi Party to Bhartiya Janta Party along with six other members of Rajya Sabha on April 24,'' according to the order. ''...the apprehension in the mind of the petitioner company that the raid conducted by respondent No.2/Board on April 30 stems from political vendetta, appears reasonably palpable,'' the order read. ''As such, this court is of the considered view that since respondent No.2/Board has failed to show any emergent situation where any stream, well, land or environment is being polluted by poisonous effluents, it would be appropriate to allow respondent No.2/Board to take coercive steps only after affording reasonable opportunity of 30 days to the petitioner company for rectifying any minor deficiencies,'' it read.

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