Chief Justice of India (CJI) Surya Kant on Monday questioned whether or not a high-powered committee constituted by the Supreme Court to reach at a uniform definition of the Aravalli hills and vary was searching for to stretch the train past his tenure, because the courtroom rejected its request for time till February 28, 2027, and directed it to submit its last report by November 30.
“They need to have clearly requested for a date after my retirement… seems they’re ready for my retirement. We aren’t going to permit this,” the CJI instructed further solicitor common Aishwarya Bhati, who appeared for the Centre. CJI Kant demits workplace on February 9, 2027.
Bench denies extension to Aravalli committee
A bench headed by the CJI and comprising Justices Joymalya Bagchi and V Mohana directed the five-member panel, headed by Indian Council of Forestry Analysis and Training (ICFRE) director common Kanchan Devi, to “work day and night time” and meet the recent deadline. The courtroom made clear that no additional extension can be granted.
“The high-powered committee has sought an extension until February 28, 2027, with the primary stroke of the pen. We reject this plea… the HPC is directed to work day and night time and submit its last report by November 30, 2026. We make it clear that no additional extension shall be granted,” the bench mentioned in its order.
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The courtroom, nevertheless, acknowledged the complexity of the train and directed the committee to submit interim studies on particular points as and when its examination progresses. These studies, it mentioned, would permit the courtroom to resolve particular person questions with out ready for all the train to conclude.
The committee’s request for a six-month extension got here after it instructed the courtroom that its work had proven that the Aravalli panorama couldn’t be adequately outlined utilizing a single terrain-based or elevation criterion.
Row over defining Aravalli hills
In an interim report filed on August 31, the panel mentioned it was analyzing spatial, ecological, geological, hydrological, biodiversity, socio-economic and stakeholder proof earlier than arriving at its conclusions. Discipline visits and interactions with stakeholders had raised questions on ecosystem well being, land-use change, hydrological techniques, biodiversity, mining-induced vulnerability and panorama connectivity, it mentioned.
The Supreme Court docket’s insistence on a time-bound train comes in opposition to the backdrop of the controversy that erupted over the sooner definition of the Aravalli hills accepted by the highest courtroom in November 2025. An earlier committee constituted by the Union setting ministry had proposed {that a} landform within the Aravalli districts with an elevation of not less than 100 metres from the native reduction would qualify as an Aravalli hill, whereas two or extra such hills inside 500 metres of one another would represent an Aravalli vary.
The definition triggered criticism from environmentalists and different stakeholders, who warned that giant parts of the ecologically fragile panorama might fall exterior the regulatory ambit and change into weak to mining and different actions. The Supreme Court docket subsequently took suo motu cognisance of the controversy. On December 29, 2025, it saved its November judgment in abeyance and ordered a recent examination by a high-powered professional panel.
The December order had questioned whether or not a height-based definition might adequately seize the ecological continuity of the Aravallis, together with areas between hills and hillocks. It additionally questioned the scientific foundation of a extensively circulated declare that only one,048 of 12,081 hills in Rajasthan met the 100-metre threshold, and whether or not a extra exhaustive geological and scientific evaluation was required.
The courtroom has since saved an entire halt on mining within the Aravalli area pending the end result of the recent train and its consideration by the courtroom.
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Pushes to listen to all stakeholders
Whereas rejecting the extension on Monday, the bench careworn that the committee should hear all affected stakeholders. It particularly directed the panel to listen to tribal communities in Rajasthan and Gujarat, moreover the governments of Delhi, Rajasthan and Haryana, environmentalists, non-profit organisations, mining lease holders, mission proponents, villagers, farmers and native communities whose livelihoods are linked to the Aravalli ecosystem.
The courtroom mentioned the eventual plan of action should be based mostly on scientific proof and in line with environmental safety and sustainable improvement. The committee’s mandate, due to this fact, extends past drawing a technical boundary across the hills and ranges to analyzing the broader ecological and socio-economic character of the panorama.
The panel’s interim evaluation has described the Aravallis as a largely related panorama with interlinked ecological, hydrological, biodiversity and socio-cultural values. It mentioned the vary contains a community of small and huge ridges and hill formations, many displaying continuity or shut spatial relationships. Even remoted hills and hillocks, it mentioned, could have biodiversity, hydrological, ecological, aesthetic or cultural significance.
The committee has consequently recommended that the Aravallis be assessed alongside forests, protected areas, sacred websites, Orans and conventional pastures, wetlands, essential catchments, groundwater recharge zones and areas of archaeological significance, moreover ecological corridors connecting with adjoining landscapes.
The panel is endeavor geospatial assessments and evaluating its methodology with the Forest Survey of India (FSI)’s 2010 work and the conclusions of the sooner Centre-constituted committee. It has proposed validation by specialised companies, together with the Nationwide Distant Sensing Centre and the Indian Space Research Organisation, saying estimates of the world and variety of hills might have important ecological, regulatory and socio-economic penalties.
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The five-member HPC contains Kanchan Devi, former MoEFCC joint secretary Brij Mohan Singh Rathore, former Delhi College botany professor Ashok Ok Bhatnagar, former FSI director common Subhash Ashutosh and former Geological Survey of India director Rajendra Kumar Sharma. Jagdish Krishnaswamy, dean of the Faculty of Atmosphere and Sustainability on the Indian Institute for Human Settlements, and Laxmikant Sharma, professor on the Central College of Haryana, are particular invitees.
The courtroom has fastened December 2 for additional consideration, by when the committee is predicted to have begun submitting its issue-specific interim findings.
