No coercive action against Trident Group until May 4, PPCB assures HC

High court steps in after Rajinder Gupta’s firm alleges political vendetta following his defection from AAP to BJP

The Punjab Pollution Control Board (PPCB) on Friday assured the Punjab and Haryana high court that no coercive measures will be taken against the Trident Group until Monday.

The legal challenge comes in the wake of an unprecedented raid on the company’s Barnala unit on Thursday, just days after the group’s founder and Rajya Sabha member, Rajinder Gupta, resigned from the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) to join the BJP. (HT file photo)

This undertaking follows a petition filed by the group’s managing director, Deepak Nanda, seeking 15 days’ notice before any state action.

The legal challenge comes in the wake of an unprecedented raid on the company’s Barnala unit on Thursday, just days after the group’s founder and Rajya Sabha member, Rajinder Gupta, resigned from the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) to join the BJP. Gupta, a prominent industrialist with a reported net worth exceeding ₹10,600 crore, was among seven MPs who defected from the AAP on April 24.

In its plea, the company characterised the PPCB’s sudden inspection as arbitrary and malafide, arguing that the timing of the raid points to “extraneous and political considerations” linked to Gupta’s change in political affiliation.

While the PPCB counsel maintained in court that the raid was merely a routine exercise with no further action currently planned, the petitioner argued that the lack of prior notice signalled a departure from standard procedure.