ISSUE:
Whether making Executive Summaries of the EIA available 30 days before the Public Hearing was necessary?
Whether the Principle of Natural Justice was violated by virtue of the chair of EAC being one who was the Director of four mining companies?
RULE:
The ‘Precautionary Principle’, widely used in determining the outcome, states that where there is a threat to severe or irreversible damage to the environment, there must be immediate action, and a lack of scientific assurance should not and cannot be the reason to avoid taking action.
The Principle of Natural Justice based on the theories of fairness and equity states that every person must be given a fair opportunity to be heard, and no decision must be taken without doing the same.