HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT ALLAHABAD LUCKNOW Sudhindra V. Desai And 5 Others .....Applicant(s)

Versus U.P. Pollution Control Buard Thru. Its Assistant Environmental Engineer Shri Ashutosh Pandey Lko. .....Opposite Party(s)

Counsel for Applicant(s) : Shivanshu Goswami Counsel for Opposite Party(s) : Ashok Kumar Verma, Shri S.S.Rajawat Court No. - 16 HON'BLE BRIJ RAJ SINGH, J.

1. Sri S.S. Rajawat, learned counsel for the opposite party has filed a short counter affidavit, which is taken on record.

2. Heard Sri Dileep Kumar, learned Senior Advocate, assisted by Sri Raghuvansh Misra, Advocate, Sri Subhash Gulati, Advocate, Sri Sudhanshu Kumar, Advocate, and Sri Shivanshu Goswami Advocate for the applicants and Sri S.S. Rajawat, Advocate and Shri Ashok Kumar Verma, Advocate for the opposite party.

3. This application has been filed by the applicants mainly with the following prayer:

".... in the aforesaid facts and circumstances the Application preferred under Section 528 BNSS may kindly be allowed, and the Impugned Summoning Order dated 19.02.2022 and the Criminal Complaint Case no. 7217 of 2020 under Section 37 of the Air (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1981 dated 24.12.2020 along with all the Consequential Proceedings in Complaint Case no. 7217 of 2020, under Section 37 of the Air (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1981, titled "U.P. Pollution Control Board, through Shri Ashutosh Pandey v. M/s Larsen and Toubro Ltd., through its Directors" pending in the Court of Learned Special Judicial Magistrate Pollution/CBI (Annexuren 122) (Water Air Pollution Control Lucknow), Lucknow may kindly be quashed, in so far as the Applicants are concerned."

2. It is case of the applicants that the Applicant No. 1 (Accused No. 20 in the Complaint Case) is Whole-time Director & Sr. Executive Vice President (Civil Infrastructure) of M/s Larsen & Toubro Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as "L&T"/ "Company"), Applicant No. 2 (Accused No. 21 in the Complaint Case) is Whole-time Director & Sr. Executive Vice President (Utilities) of L&T, Applicant No. 3 (Accused No. 5 in the Complaint Case) is President, Whole-time Director & CFO of L&T, Applicant No. 4 (Accused No. 15 in the Complaint Case) is Chairman & Managing Director of L&T and Applicant Nos. 5 & 6 (Accused Nos. 3 & 6 in the Complaint Case) are Independent Directors of L&T. That L&T is a Company under Section 2(20) of the Companies Act, 2013 and is one of the India's leading multinational companies engaged in Construction, Technology, Engineering, and manufacturing activities. L&T has been associated with various prestigious projects of construction and other civil works all throughout the country and abroad. The Dedicated Freight Corridor Corporation of India Limited (DFCCIL) is a Government of India (Ministry of Railways) enterprise having its Registered office at Room No. 501, 5th Floor, Pragati Maidan, Metro Station Building Complex, New Delhi-110001 and has been created to undertake planning & development, mobilization of financial resources and construction, maintenance, and operation of the dedicated freight corridors in the Country. The L&T was awarded a Contract dated 15.03.2018 by the DFCCIL for the Design and Construction of Civil, Structures and Track Works for Railway, involving Formation in Embankments/Cuttings, Ballast on Formation, Track Works, Bridges, Structures, Buildings, Yards, Integration with Indian Railways' existing Railway System and Testing Commissioning on Design-Build Lump Sum Basis for Khurja - Pilkhani (approximate 222 route km of single & line) Section of Eastern Dedicated Freight Corridor-CP-303. For carrying out part of the awarded works under the Project, L&T was required to set up a concrete Batching plant and DFCCIL had accordingly provided a portion of the land situated at Plot No. 836/838, Village Saidpur Husainpur, Dilna, Mohiuddinpur Ghaziabad, 250205. The L&T had established the above-mentioned Batching Plant after duly obtaining the requisite C