CHENNAI: Refusing to grant any interim stay to further proceedings, a division bench of the Madras High Court on Monday issued a notice to the Centre on a plea related to publishing the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) draft notification in vernacular languages.
The two-member bench comprising Chief Justice AP Sahi and Justice Senthil Kumar Ramamoorthy passed the order tagging the plea with a similar petition to a division bench of MM Sundresh and R Hemalatha.
The petitioner Ramkumar Adityan, an advocate, submitted that the Delhi High Court recently directed the central government to extend the notice period to the public in the draft EIA notification 2020 until 30 September 2020.
The petitioner also said the Delhi High Court directed the central government to make translated copies of the draft notification available across the country in the official vernacular languages
mentioned in the Eighth Schedule to the Constitution and upload the same on all its websites including those of the Environment Ministries of all the states.
The petitioner also contended that the draft EIA 2020 notification is definitely more complex and more difficult to understand. It is also clear that the draft EIA is less environment-friendly and more
aligned to serving the interests of project proponents who have little concern for the environment, he added.
Recording the submissions, the high court bench tagged the plea to the other bench and adjourned it to September 8.