Chandigarh, May 2 -- The Punjab Pollution Control Board (PPCB) on Friday assured the Punjab and Haryana high court that no coercive measures will be taken against the Trident Group until Monday. This undertaking follows a petition filed by the group's managing director, Deepak Nanda, seeking 15 days' notice before any state action. The legal challenge comes in the wake of an unprecedented raid on the company's Barnala unit on Thursday, just days after the group's founder and Rajya Sabha member, Rajinder Gupta, resigned from the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) to join the BJP. Gupta, a prominent industrialist with a reported net worth exceeding Rs.10,600 crore, was among seven MPs who defected from the AAP on April 24. In its plea, the company characterised the PPCB's sudden inspection as arbitrary and malafide, arguing that the timing of the raid points to "extraneous and political considerations" linked to Gupta's change in political affiliation. While the PPCB counsel maintained in court that the raid was merely a routine exercise with no further action currently planned, the petitioner argued that the lack of prior notice signalled a departure from standard procedure. After recording the PPCB's assurance of restraint, the high court deferred the hearing to Monday and issued notices to both the Punjab government and the board for a formal response....