Breather for RS MP Rajinder Gupta who moved HC over Punjab pollution board raid after his switch to BJP
Chandigarh: A day after a team of the Punjab Pollution Control Board (PPCB) raided a Barnala factory owned by Rajya Sabha MP Rajinder Gupta, his company moved the high court against the Punjab government alleging political vendetta.
A petition moved by the MD of Trident Limited—the company of which Gupta is chairman emeritus—sought protection from the court from coercive action stemming from the “vendetta”.
Gupta is one of the six former AAP MPs from Punjab who, in a dramatic move, shifted from AAP to the BJP last week.
Taking up the petition, a division bench of Chief Justice Sheel Nagu issued a notice of motion to the Punjab government. The bench added that the counsel appearing for the Punjab Pollution Control Board had submitted that no coercive steps would be taken against the petitioner’s company till 4 May, when the matter is next listed.
Another MP, cricketer-turned-politician Harbhajan Singh, who was also among the six to have shifted loyalties, had moved the high court Thursday alleging that the Punjab police had withdrawn his security on 25 April, in the aftermath of the shift.
Justice Jagmohan Bansal while issuing a notice to the Punjab government on Singh’s petition, had asked the government to ensure that no physical harm is caused to the petitioner and his family members while they are in Punjab.
In his petition, the MD of the Trident group told the court Friday that a large contingent of more than 30 officials conducted a sudden raid at the Barnala factory on Thursday, acting in a “high handed and coercive manner”.
“The scale and nature of the raid was wholly disproportionate, particularly when no environmental pollution has been recorded in the visit report. Such action is not consistent with past inspections and clearly indicates abuse of power,” states the petition filed by senior advocate Manisha Gandhi on behalf of the Trident group.
The petition pointed out that the raid was conducted despite the company’s application for various pollution-related permissions for 2026-27 was currently pending before the Punjab pollution control board. The raid, says the petition, has only been carried out to harass and hound the petitioner’s company because its chairman emeritus moved from AAP to the BJP.
The company MD added that the raid was conducted without any deficiency notice or opportunity of hearing. The petitioner alleged that the timing and circumstances of the raid raise serious concerns of mala fide intent motivated by extraneous and political considerations.
He also said in court that they were apprehending “imminent coercion” by the government despite the absence of any established violation and during the pendency of consent applications. The MD told the court that the consents pertaining to the yarn and sulphuric acid which we applied for have already been obtained. The consent for the paper division was obtained last year and is still valid. The MD added that the consent pertaining to the towel division is the only one pending with the PPCB.
The MD said that his company is a leading Indian diversified manufacturing company with a strong global presence operating across yarn, home textiles, paper and chemicals and energy. Incorporated in 1990, the company is part of the Trident group and is headquartered in Ludhiana and is listed on the National Stock Exchange and the Bombay Stock Exchange.
The MD told the court that in the last three decades, the company has transformed from a commodity yarn manufacturer into one of the world’s largest integrated home textile manufacturers and a leading producer of wheat straw-based paper. The company’s MD added that the company was founded by Rajinder Gupta who is the key promoter behind the long term growth of the company.
The MD of the company has asked the court to prevent the government from taking any coercive step against the petitioner without a notice of 15 days and without offering them an opportunity for a hearing.
The MD added that the court should also direct the Punjab government to send the seized samples from the factory to an independent laboratory outside Punjab. It also asked the court to direct the Punjab government that any further collection of samples from the petitioner’s factory be done by an independent agency from outside Punjab.
Political leaders across party lines have criticised the raid. Congress MP Sukhjinder Randhawa said that Punjab’s industry was already struggling and such motivated actions would destroy it further.
Punjab Government has launched a vicious political witch-hunt against Trident Group, one of Punjab’s biggest and most successful industrial houses, merely because its owner Rajinder Gupta had left AAP to join BJP.
This is not governance, this is naked abuse of state power for…
— Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa (@Sukhjinder_INC) April 30, 2026
Senior Akali leader Bikram Singh Majithia said Thursday that the Punjab Pollution Control Board was being used as a political tool by the government against industrialists who dared to challenge the government. He said that the manner in which the Punjab pollution Control Board had been used against Trident Group reminded him of the manner in which the government had come down heavily on Punjab Kesari for bringing out the truth against the government in its newspaper.
👉 “Politics of fear to save the chair” — sam, dam, dand, bhed in play 🚨
👉 Pollution Board being used as a political weapon against industrialists.
👉 7 Rajya Sabha exits — Mann–Kejriwal rattled, fear of MLA desertion rising.
👉 Global investment claims vs raids on Punjab… pic.twitter.com/RpBv07w33h— Bikram Singh Majithia (@bsmajithia) April 30, 2026
In a statement issued Thursday, the Bharatiya Janata Party Punjab working state president Ashwani Sharma has strongly condemned the raid on the premises of the Trident Group, terming it a “deplorable and politically motivated act”.
Sharma alleged that the action was carried out at the behest of AAP Supremo Arvind Kejriwal and Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann, in an attempt to settle political scores and pursue political vendetta against Rajinder Gupta. Sharma further said that the only “fault” of Rajinder Gupta was that he dared to join the Bharatiya Janata Party for the betterment of Punjab, which has made him a target of the ruling dispensation.
(Edited by Viny Mishra)
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