Publish Environment Impact Assessment draft in other Indian languages: Supreme Court

New Delhi: The Supreme Court has asked the Centre to publish the draft Environment Impact Assessment notification in as many Indian languages as possible, apart from the Hindi and English draft circulated recently for public dissemination and objections.
A bench headed by Chief Justice of India Sharad Arvind Bobde said that if the law did not permit notification in multiple languages, the Centre should amend the Official Languages Act. However, the bench stayed the Delhi High Court’s contempt proceedings against the environment ministry but asked the Centre to go back to the HC to have the contempt petition withdrawn.

Multiple petitions have been filed in different high courts against the decision to publish the notification only in Hindi and English. Representing environmental activist Vikrant Tongad in one such petition, senior advocate Gopal Shankarnarayan argued in the Delhi High Court that the draft notification should be widely disseminated in as many languages as possible for knowing the public’s opinion. The Delhi HC then ordered the Centre to publish the draft notification in other languages within 10 days but the Centre refused to comply. A contempt petition was subsequently filed in the HC against the environment ministry’s refusal and the HC issued contempt notices.

A division bench led by Justice DM Patel had extended the time for complying with the court order till July 10, in view of the August 11 deadline for filing objections to the draft notification. The Centre approached the SC against the order and contempt petition but Bobde’s bench while staying contempt proceedings rejected the government plea on limiting the languages for the notification.

Appearing for the environment ministry, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta urged the court to examine its grievance on the ground that the HC had overlooked the Official Languages Act which mandated that the government publish all official communication either in Hindi or English. The CJI, however said: “We think the spirit in which the High Court order is passed is correct. There are people…who do not know Hindi or English.”

Mehta persisted that the rules allowed responses in any language but the notification could only be in Hindi or English, prompting the CJI to suggest amending the law to allow this. “You could consider amending the Official Languages’ Act. These days’ translation is the easiest thing on earth. We translate judgments. Parliament has instant translation software. It’s time for you to update your Act.”

The SG then hinted at the practical difficulties in translating a law saying sometimes they did not make sense, but the CJI rejected his arguments, insisting that this was not true of English law. Shankarnarayan argued that the Centre had itself asked all states to publish the draft in 3 other languages, leading the bench to reject the Centre’s plea.

Environmentalists contend that the notification in existing form allows for post-facto approval of development projects and in some cases do away with public consultation clause too and this would destroy India’s environment and forests and that it must be widely debated and reviewed before it is finalised. Hence, they insist that the notification had to be translated at least into 20 other languages listed in the Eight Schedule of the Constitution for wider dissemination.