MADURAI: Though the time limit to give feedback on the Forest (Conservation) Amendment Bill, 2023, was over on May 18, 2023, a vacation bench of the Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court on Thursday granted one week time to a man to send his suggestions on the bill to the ‘Joint Committee on Forest (Conservation) Amendment Bill, 2023’. It also permitted him to send the suggestions in Tamil language, since the government’s press communication said the suggestions could be offered only in English or Hindi.
The interim order was passed in a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) which sought direction to translate and publish the bill in Tamil language, extend the time limit for people to send their feedback on the bill, and permit people to send suggestions in vernacular languages.
The litigant, G Theeran Thirumurugan, submitted in the PIL that the union government had sent a press communication on May 3, 2023, on behalf of the above committee, inviting suggestions or memorandum on the bill which was proposed to be introduced to amend the Forest Conservation Act, 1980. The time limit for sending suggestions was fixed as 15 days (till May 18), he added.
Thirumurugan claimed that many crucial amendments, which affect the rights of a huge number of people who cannot read or write in English and Hindi, are proposed in the bill. Yet, the bill has not been translated into vernacular languages, he alleged.
Hearing the plea, a Bench comprising Acting Chief Justice T Raja and Justice L Victoria Gowri issued notice to the union and state government and adjourned the case to next week with the above order.