Supreme Court puts earlier decision on Aravalli hills definition ‘in abeyance’, orders formation of expert committee

The Supreme Court on Monday (Dec 29) said that its earlier order on the Aravallis will not be implemented until the next date of hearing, putting its November 20 decision to accept the Central Environment Ministry’s definition of Aravalli Hills and Aravalli Range “in abeyance”. A bench led by the Chief Justice of India (CJI) Surya Kant has directed the formation of a new expert committee to examine issues related to the definition of Aravallis. This comes after the Union Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEF&CC) directed state governments to impose a “complete ban” on granting any new mining leases in the Aravallis.

The Indian top court’s earlier acceptance of the definition had revealed most of the Aravalli region to the risk of being used for regulated mining.

The matter was heard by a vacation bench of CJI Surya Kant and Justices J.K. Maheshwari and A.G Masih after the Supreme Court took suo motu cognisance of the writ petition titled “In Re: Definition of Aravalli Hills and Ranges and Ancillary Issues”.

The court also issued a notice to the Centre and state governments of Delhi, Rajasthan, Gujarat, and Haryana, seeking their response to its suo motu case on the matter.

Earlier on Saturday (Dec 27), the Supreme Court took suo motu cognisance of concerns regarding the definition of the Aravallis, following mounting criticism from environmentalists and opposition parties over its potential impact on the ecosystem of the mountain. The outrage stemmed from the Centre’s newly notified definition of the mountain ranges, which mentions a 100-metre height criterion.