Chandigarh: A day after a staff from the Punjab Air pollution Management Board (PPCB) raided a Barnala manufacturing facility owned by Rajya Sabha MP Rajinder Gupta, his firm filed a excessive court docket criticism towards the Punjab authorities alleging political vendetta.
The petition, filed by the MD of Trident Restricted, of which Mr. Gupta is honorary chairman, sought safety from the court docket towards coercive motion stemming from “revenge”.
Mr. Gupta is considered one of six former AAP MPs from Punjab who switched from AAP to the BJP in a dramatic transfer final week.
Taking over the petition, a division bench of Chief Justice Sher Nag issued a discover of movement to the Punjab authorities. The court docket added that the lawyer showing earlier than the Punjab Air pollution Management Board has submitted that no enforcement motion will likely be taken towards the petitioner firm until Might 4 when the matter is subsequent listed.
One other MP, cricketer-turned-politician Harbhajan Singh, who was among the many six who transferred allegiance, filed a criticism within the Excessive Courtroom on Thursday accusing the Punjab Police of withdrawing his safety safety on April 25 within the aftermath of the switch.
Whereas issuing a discover to the Punjab authorities on Singh’s petition, Justice Jagmohan Bansal requested the federal government to make sure that no bodily hurt involves the petitioner and his household throughout his keep in Punjab.
Trident Group’s MD informed the court docket in a petition on Friday that a big power of over 30 officers abruptly raided the Barnala manufacturing facility on Thursday and acted in a “high-handed and high-handed method”.
“The size and nature of the assault was completely disproportionate, particularly although no environmental air pollution was recorded within the go to report. Such actions aren’t in step with previous inspections and clearly point out an abuse of energy,” mentioned the petition filed by senior advocate Manisha Gandhi on behalf of the Trident Group.
The petition factors out that the raid was carried out although the corporate is presently making use of for varied pollution-related licenses with the Punjab Air pollution Management Board for 2026-2027. In line with the petition, the raid was carried out solely to harass and nook the petitioner firm because the honorary chairman of the petitioner firm had moved from AAP to the BJP.
The corporate MD added that the raid was carried out with out discover or alternative for listening to. Petitioners argued that the timing and circumstances of the assault elevate critical issues that it was malicious intent motivated by unrelated political concerns.
He additionally informed the court docket there was “imminent coercion” by the federal government to arrest him, although there have been no apparent violations and a consent utility was pending. The physician informed the court docket that consent had already been obtained for the thread and sulfuric acid that we had utilized for. Consent for the separation of the paper was obtained final 12 months and stays in power. The physician added that the towel-splitting settlement is the one one pending with the PPCB.
The MD mentioned his firm is India’s main diversified manufacturing firm with a powerful world presence in yarn, house textiles, paper, chemical compounds and vitality sectors. Based in 1990, the corporate is a part of the Trident Group, headquartered in Ludhiana and listed on the Nationwide Inventory Alternate and the Bombay Inventory Alternate.
The MD informed the court docket that the corporate had remodeled over the previous 30 years from a common objective yarn producer to one of many world’s largest built-in house textile producers and a number one producer of straw-based papers. The corporate’s MD added that the corporate was based by Rajinder Gupta, who’s the important thing driver behind its long-term progress.
The corporate’s MD requested the court docket to restrain the federal government from taking any coercive motion towards the petitioner with out offering 15 days’ discover and alternative of listening to.
The physician added that the court docket ought to direct the Punjab authorities to ship the seized samples from the manufacturing facility to an impartial laboratory exterior Punjab. It additionally requested the court docket to direct the Punjab authorities to make sure that additional pattern assortment from the petitioner’s factories be carried out by an impartial company exterior Punjab.
Political leaders throughout celebration strains have criticized the assault. Congress MP Sukhjinder Randhawa mentioned Punjab’s industries have been already struggling and such motivated motion would additional destroy them.
The Punjab authorities has launched a vicious political witch-hunt towards Trident Group, considered one of Punjab’s largest and most profitable industrial corporations, just because its proprietor Rajinder Gupta left AAP and joined the BJP.
This isn’t governance, however a blatant abuse of state energy…
— Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa (@Sukhjinder_INC) April 30, 2026
Senior Akali chief Bikram Singh Majithia on Thursday mentioned the Punjab Air pollution Management Board is being utilized by the federal government as a political software towards industrialists who dare to problem the federal government. He mentioned seeing how the Punjab Air pollution Management Board has been used towards the Trident Group reminds him of how the federal government has been harsh towards the Trident Group. punjabi kesari For exposing the reality concerning the authorities within the newspaper.
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In a press release launched on Thursday, Bharatiya Janata Get together Punjab Labor state president Ashwani Sharma strongly condemned the assault on the Trident Group’s premises as a “deplorable and politically motivated act”.
Sharma claimed that the motion was carried out on the orders of AAP supremo Arvind Kejriwal and Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann to clear political stains and pursue political vendetta towards Rajinder Gupta. Sharma additional mentioned that Rajinder Gupta’s solely “fault” was that he dared to affix the Bharatiya Janata Get together for the betterment of Punjab, which made him topic to the fitting to rule.
(Edited by Vinny Mishra)
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