HC rules, Environment Impact Assessment, 2020 is a Policy matter, no Judicial intervention

On Monday, the High Court of Madras refused to stay the draft Environment Impact Assessment (EIA) notification 2020, saying it can't pass interim orders in the policy matters of the Govt. However, admitting the petition moved by Lawyer Ramkumar Adityan, seeking direction to the Centre to publish Tamil version of the draft, the first bench of Chief Justice A P Sahi & Justice Senthilkumar Ramamoorthy directed the Govt to file its response by Sept 8.

The bench also directed the registry to tag the matter with a similar plea already pending before another division bench.

The petitioner pointed out that though the High Court of Delhi had recently directed the Centre to publish the draft in all the 22 recognised languages in the country, which was also upheld by the Apex Court, the Centre was yet to implement the order. He further contended the draft EIA-2020 notification was a complex document & was difficult to understand. It is also clear that the draft EIA is less environment-friendly & more aligned to serving interests of project proponents who have little concern for the environment, he added. 

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