Jharkhand High Court Holds Special Sunday Hearing During Puja Break Over Bokaro Steel Plant Blockade
The Jharkhand HC held a special hearing during the Puja holidays after the Bokaro Steel Plant approached the Court alleging a complete blockade of its gates by the local MLA and agitators of the Visthapit Apprentice Sang (VAS), disrupting the movement of employees, maintenance staff, raw materials and essential supplies.
A Single Judge Bench of Justice Sujit Narayan Prasad heard the matter after the communication from Bokaro Steel Limited was brought to the notice of the Chief Justice. The Court was otherwise closed for the Puja holidays and was scheduled to reopen on October 26, 2026. The Chief Justice directed constitution of a Bench to consider the urgent grievance, following which the matter was notified for hearing at 2:15 PM.
The Plant alleged that almost all its ingress and egress gates had been blocked, with only limited movement being permitted through Gate No. 1. It stated that the blockade was affecting the movement of its workforce, raw materials, maintenance personnel and essential supplies and could disrupt the functioning of the continuous-process steel plant. The Plant further claimed that any forced shutdown could result in the solidification of approximately 12,000 tonnes of molten steel in the blast furnaces, potentially causing equipment damage running into thousands of crores of rupees and posing environmental and safety risks.
The Plant had approached the district administration on October 15 seeking intervention. The Deputy Commissioner, Bokaro, informed the Court that efforts had been undertaken to disperse the protesters and that, following persuasion, Gate No. 1 had been reopened and employees who were stuck inside the plant had been allowed to return home. He subsequently informed the Court that the other ten gates had also been reopened.
The petitioner, however, expressed apprehension that the blockade could recur. The Deputy Commissioner assured the Court repeatedly that such disruption would not be permitted and that effective measures would be taken to ensure unhindered movement of employees and executives into and out of the plant. The Court recorded:
“The Deputy Commissioner, Bokaro has reiterated before this Court not only once but thrice that the apprehension of disruption shall not be permitted to emerge. He has assured that all effective measures will be adopted to prevent any obstruction in the ingress and egress of employees and executives to and from the unit at the commencement and conclusion of their duty shifts.”
The Court also asked the Deputy Commissioner whether he was facing any difficulty in controlling the situation, indicating that the Home Secretary could be called if necessary. The Deputy Commissioner stated that there was no need to call any higher authority and that he was fully capable of bringing the situation under control.
Relying on this undertaking, the Court, for the present, deferred calling the Home Secretary. It also did not issue notice to the MLA and the other protesters at this stage. The matter was posted for October 28, 2026, and the Deputy Commissioner and Superintendent of Police, Bokaro were directed to file affidavits setting out what they had stated before the Court.
Appearance:
For the Petitioner : Mr. Indrajit Sinha, Advocate [Through VC], Mr. Bibhash Sinha, Advocate
and Mr. Rishav Raj, Advocate
For the Respondents : Mr. Jai Prakash, AAC-IA