Delhi HC adjourns till June 30 hearing on plea seeking time for public

The Delhi High Court on Monday adjourned till June 30 hearing on a petition seeking an extension of time granted to the general public to give their suggestion for the Draft Environmental Impact Assessment EIA 2020A bench of Chief Justice DN Patel and Justice Prateek Jalan asked the counsel of the Central government to take instruction regarding the possibility of an extension of time and listed the matter for further hearing on June 30The High Court observed that there is ambiguity in the notification concerned and asked the Central government how will it be resolved In the last hearing the court had issued notice to the Centre to file its response on the matterThe plea sought directions to the respondent to extend the notice period to the public in the draft EIA notification 2020 until September 30 2020 or till such further period till the COVID19 lockdown subsistsIt also sought directions 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 as well as those of the State Pollution Control BoardsThe petitioner urged the court to issue directions for conducting consultations with various stakeholders and concerned persons across the country through its State Pollution Control Boards as a precondition to considering the draft notificationOn March 23 the government published a draft notification on Environmental Impact Assessment Draft EIA Notification 2020 Draft Notification and as per Rule 5 of the Environment Protection Rules sought objections or suggestions from members of the public the plea saidHowever on account of the COVID19 pandemic which is a force majeure event the public has been unable to comment meaningfully on the draft the petition said adding that recognising the difficulties faced by the members of the public the government vide notification later extended the notice period to the public until June 30 2020 on the belief that the COVID19 lockdown would be over by then it addedIt said that even this time is woefully inadequate since cases of COVID19 are on the rise and there are still several restrictions on movements and access to technology and resourcesThe extension notification itself is contradictory and unclear as to the exact duration of extension of the notice period the plea claimed It said that postal services have also been suspended in cities like Mumbai and Delhi on account of which citizens cannot send their objectionsThe notification is largely inaccessible online as it is only in English and has not been posted prominently on the website of the Ministry of Environment Forests and Climate Change apart from not been posted on the websites of various State Pollution Control Boards or any Environment Ministry websites of any of the States the plea saidCatch up on all the latest Crime National International and Hatke news here Also download the new midday Android and iOS apps to get latest updates MidDay is now on Telegram Click here to join our channel middayinfomedialtd and stay updated with the latest newsThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever