High court fines Bathinda SSP ₹1 lakh for failure to stop stir over gas project

Work to lay 940-km Gujarat-Bathinda pipeline has been pending for 4 years. Only 1,200-metre pipeline work has been pending in the district whereas GSPL India Gasnet Limited has already executed the work on the remaining stretch.

The Punjab and Haryana high court has imposed a cost of ₹1 lakh on the senior superintendent of police (SSP) of Bathinda for failing to stop farmers from obstructing a gas pipeline project in the district.

The Punjab and Haryana high court has directed the Bathinda SSP to deposit ₹1 lakh in the Poor Patient Welfare Fund of the PGIMER and submit a compliance report within six days.

Disposing of a petition filed by GSPL India Gasnet Limited, the bench of Vinod S Bhardwaj said, “Inordinate delay in law enforcement makes violation the new law. An aberration or breach of law can’t be the face of law and should be rejected.”

The work by GSPL India Gasnet Limited to lay the 940-km pipeline for supply of natural gas from Mehsana (Gujarat) to Bathinda had commenced in 2018 and crossed the 840-km stretch in Gujarat, Rajasthan and Haryana in just two years but the work on the last patch in Bathinda has been pending for the last four years. Work on only 1,200-metre pipeline is pending in the district.

The company had moved the high court in the wake of the protest by farmers halting the work despite the project being undertaken with all statutory compliances.

“If a period of four years has not been sufficient to equip the police authorities to resolve the issue, the inference actually starts to flow against the police. A probability of the police itself having prolonged the protests cannot be ruled out,” read the order, directing the Bathinda SSP to deposit ₹1 lakh in the Poor Patient Welfare Fund of the PGIMER and submit a compliance report within six days.

The court added, “This court does not wish to advice how authorities and law enforcement agencies are to act, however it certainly does express its displeasure to the style of functioning of the district police and it having chosen its pace and comfort, oblivious to the importance of the project for the nation and the state.”

The court also directed the SSP to make every endeavour to provide proper police assistance and make arrangements to ensure timely completion of the project. It also directed the SSP to provide adequate security to the employees of the company.

The high court also directed the company to furnish details of the compensation awarded to the landowners as per revenue record of the collector. The balance/differential amount, if any, shall be cleared within 15 days, it added.