‘Shut down your unit’ — the message by Punjab and Haryana High Court Chief Justice Tirath Singh Thakur to the counsel appearing for Punjab Meats Limited (PML) was precise and clear. The meat processing unit is owned by Dr A S Bindra, father of ace shooter Abhinav Bindra.

The case regarding pollution being caused by the Dera Bassi-based unit came up for hearing before a Division Bench comprising the chief justice and Justice Hemant Gupta on Tuesday.

On the last date of hearing, the Bench had directed the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) to constitute a team and submit a report on pollution created by the unit.

The decision was taken after A S Bindra cried foul over the “damaging report” submitted by the Punjab Pollution Control Board (PPCB). In an undertaking later, Bindra had stated that he would shut the unit if the CPCB finds a problem with it.

The CPCB filed its report on Tuesday detailing seven “recommendations” to make pollution control measures effective. Although PML counsel Ashwani Chopra argued that the CPCB has not pointed out any deficiency in its report, the Bench refused to show conviction in the averments raised.

“Shut down your unit. Comply with the recommendations of the CPCB and then resume the unit. There are seven deficiencies discovered by them,” said the chief justice.

Chopra, however, stuck to his averment that the points given in the report were recommendations for improvement and not deficiencies. “You had given an undertaking that you will shut the unit if any deficiency is found. This was the final call. The conditions in your unit are not satisfactory,” remarked the chief justice.

The CPCB submitted in its report that at the time of inspection, the slaughterhouse was not operational and as such flow measurement and effluent characterisation study was not feasible. Raising eyebrows over this, the Bench questioned as to why the slaughterhouse was not functional when the team inspected the unit. The counsel said that the unit was not in operation due to a strike by the truckers’ union.