The Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court has closed a petition filed for vacating the interim stay ordered by the court on a press communique issued by the Centre inviting suggestions on the Forest (Conservation) Amendment Bill, 2023, in either English or Hindi.
A Division Bench of Justices R. Subramanian and L. Victoria Gowri was informed by the Centre that the Supreme Court had stayed the order of the High Court. Taking note of it, the judges closed the petition preferred by the Joint Secretary, Lok Sabha Secretariat.
The Centre preferred a special leave petition before the Supreme Court challenging the order passed by the Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court while hearing a petition filed by advocate G. Theeran Thirumurugan.
Mr. Theeran Thirumurugan had sought a direction to the Centre to upload Tamil copy of the Bill on the website and receive suggestions on the Bill in vernacular languages, including Tamil. He had complained that the Centre had invited suggestions either in English or Hindi. The rights of the non-Hindi speaking population to express their suggestions had been denied, he had said.
The High Court, in its order, had observed, “We are of the view that the object behind calling for suggestions would be well met if the Bill is translated and published in the website and suggestions are called in all the vernacular languages and, therefore, we deem it fit to stay all further happenings pursuant to the press communique for the present.”
