CHENNAI: The Madras High Court on Friday refused to grant an interim stay to the draft EIA proceedings until the notification gets translated in all vernacular languages. The court directed the central government counsel to file a detailed report on the issue by August 13.
The court refused a stay since the Karnataka High Court has already ordered a stay in the matter and granted liberty to a litigant to approach it if that stay gets vacated.
The two-member bench of justices MM Sundresh and R Hemalatha directed the central government counsel to get instructions on the vernacular language provision for the draft EIA.
According to the petitioner, most of the people confined to rural villages and forest fringes are still ignorant about the present EIA Notification 2020 since there was no substantial publicity by the central government in any publication.
"The central government ought to have seen that the general public is unable to make their suggestions and objections concerning the draft EIA Notification 2020 in so far as the country and the people have vigorously fought against the virus of COVID-19 till now," said the petitioner.
The court recording the submissions adjourned the plea to August 13.