The Punjab & Haryana High Court noted that “lack of adequate and proper action on the part of the Police cannot be exempted or insulated under sovereign immunity” and imposed a Rs. 1 lakh fine on Punjab’s Bathinda SSP for failing to take appropriate measures against protesting farmers who disrupted the National Gas Pipeline Project.
A liability can be imposed on the State when it is clear that there was a failure to act reasonably in maintaining law and order. The exaggerated fear of a breach of peace, which is based more on apprehensions and a lack of grit, determination, and leadership in law enforcement rather than objective input, cannot be accepted as an excuse to sacrifice the rule of law, the judge added.
The Court was hearing a plea filed by GSPL India Gasnet Limited, an undertaking of the Gujarat Government, seeking protection for its employees from the Punjab Government against locals allegedly stalling the National Pipeline Project.
In 2017, the Central Government decided, in the public interest, that the transportation of natural gas from Mehsana, Gujarat to Bhatinda, Punjab should be facilitated through a pipeline laid by GSPL, a Gujarat Government undertaking, the petitioners submitted.
However, the project was allegedly stalled by local farmers protesting and demanding an “exorbitant sum of Rs. 1 crore per acre” for acquiring the “right of user” of their land.
The plea stated that the Additional District Magistrate of Bathinda had instructed the SSP to provide police support to complete the project. However, despite these instructions, the local administration has not provided adequate support.
After hearing the submissions, the Court noted that instead of explaining why the necessary police assistance could not be provided, the response focused only on investigating the alleged obstruction by villagers and the detention of the petitioner’s employees.
