The Orissa High Court said that the mode of publication of the public notice should be advertised in a major national daily and one regional vernacular daily and not announced through "beat of drums". (Image generated using AI)The Orissa High Court recently ruled that environmental public hearings do not require publicity through traditional modes such as “beat of drums” or pasting notices in panchayat offices, so long as legal requirements like publication in newspapers is duly complied with. A bench comprising Chief Justice Harish Tandon and Justice Murahari Sri Raman was hearing the PIL filed by one Prasannajit Nayak and others seeking cancellation of a public hearing and dismissed the same“We could not persuade ourselves to the contention of the petitioner that the notice of the public hearing must also be pasted in a conspicuous portion of the panchayat office or by beat of drums,” the bench said on January 21.