The Supreme Court on Thursday rejected the Centre's petition challenging a Delhi High Court order to print the draft Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) 2020 notification in 22 languages.
An Indian Express report stated the Delhi High Court on June 30, heard a petition and issued an order to the Centre to print the draft EIA notification in the languages mentioned in the Eighth Schedule of the Constitution.
The court gave the Centre 10 days to carry out this order. Later, the centre approached the Supreme court. The apex court directed the government to publish the draft EIA notification.
"The court observed there was no legal obligation to print the notification in regional languages," said Vishal Sinha, a lawyer involved with the case. The people of Karnataka, rural Maharashtra, Nagaland, etc, will not be able to understand it, the Supreme Court said, according to Sinha.
The draft EIA notification was published in the Union Environment, Forests, and Climate Change's official websites only in English and Hindi, the report added.
