Bombay High Court sets aside MPCB's closure order against part of Rohit Pawar's firm; says it was passed 'hastily'

The Bombay High Court on Thursday set aside the closure order passed by the Maharashtra Pollution Control Board MPCB against part of Baramati Agro Ltd a firm run by Sharad Pawarled NCPs MLA Rohit PawarA division bench led by Justice Nitin Jamdar said the MPCB order was set aside for being disproportionate and noted that the order was passed in a hasty mannerThe bench has directed the MPCB to hear and decide the matter afresh on the basis of the showcause notice issued to the company initiallyThe MPCB had issued the closure order notice on September 27 directing the closure of part of the Baramati Agro Ltd within 72 hours The company challenged this notice before the high courtThe bench had earlier this month in an adinterim order directed the MPCB to not operate the closure noticeThe firm in its plea filed through advocate Akshay Shinde alleged that the order has been passed owing to political influence and considering the present political situation to pressurise the director of the petitioner company that is Rohit Pawar who is also a member of the legislative assembly of MaharashtraRohit Pawar who is the grandnephew of Sharad Pawar is the CEO of Baramati Agro Ltd He represents the KarjatJamkhed assembly constituency in Ahmednagar districtBaramati Agro works in the fields of animal and poultry feed manufacturing sugar and ethanol manufacturing cogeneration of power trading of agricommodities fruits and vegetables and dairy productsThe petition claimed that the company has obtained necessary permissions from timetotime to operate the unit and that it was also granted Environmental Clearance in 2022The MPCB claimed that during regular inspection of the unit situated in Pune certain irregularities were foundIn September the MPCB issued a showcause notice to the petitioner company which was responded to and a personal hearing was also heldHowever the MPCB officials failed to take into consideration any explanation clarification or evidence submitted by the petitioner company and issued an order on September 27 directing closedown of the manufacturing activities of the unit without 72 hours the plea saidAlso read Mumbai Supriya Sule hits back at Assam CM over his comments on Sharad PawarThe plea added that the impugned order of the MPCB was arbitrary illegal unlawful and discriminatory in natureIt added that the order was in violation of the fundamental rights of the petitioner to carry out business or trade and that directing for closure of the unit was an extremely stringent and disproportionate actionThe petition added that the unit has been operating since 20072008 and since then there has not been a single instance of any environmental violationIt further said that the unit which has been ordered to be closed down is situated within the same premises as the sugar factory run by the company and that supply of water and electricity are commonly connectedIt said closing of this unit would result in stoppage of electricity and water supply to the sugar factory hence causing irreparable harm and lossThe MPCB had claimed that the closure order was issued due to serious environmental violations and as the firm was causing environmental damageThe MPCB in its affidavit filed earlier also refuted the allegations that the order was passed in a predetermined and motivated manner claiming that it is an allegation made out of desperationIt added that considering the serious violations the action was taken expeditiouslyThe MPCB said that it is open for the company to comply with the norms and come back to the boardThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever