The Supreme Court has constituted a high-powered expert committee to conduct an independent review of the Centre’s report on the definition and delineation of the Aravalli hill range. The committee will be headed by Kanchan Devi, Director General of the Indian Council of Forestry Research and Education. The panel has been asked to submit its report by August 31 this year.
The apex court said an impartial and scientific assessment is needed to address key issues related to the protection of the Aravalli ecosystem. The court had earlier stayed the implementation of an Environment Ministry report submitted in October last year and called for a fresh review by independent experts.The committee will examine whether the proposed criteria for identifying Aravalli hills could significantly reduce the area under environmental protection and allow mining or other activities in ecologically sensitive regions.
It will also assess the scientific basis of the elevation criteria used in the report and evaluate whether existing regulatory mechanisms are adequate for protecting the Aravalli range. The panel includes experts from forestry, geology, environment and ecology. The five-member High-Powered Expert Committee will undertake a comprehensive review of issues relating to the definition and demarcation of the Aravalli Hills and Ranges, observing that decisions with far-reaching environmental consequences should not be taken without the benefit of expert evaluation.
A bench comprising Chief Justice of India, Justice Joymalya Bagchi and Justice Vipul M. Pancholi passed the order in the suo motu proceedings concerning the definition of the Aravalli Hills and Ranges. The Court noted that it had earlier expressed the need for an independent expert assessment of a report submitted on October 3, 2025, which formed the basis of extensive directions issued by the Court regarding the identification and protection of the Aravalli ecosystem.
The Court observed that expert scrutiny was necessary to address concerns about whether the existing definition, which restricts the Aravalli Range to areas within 500 metres between two or more Aravalli hills, could substantially narrow the protected area and expand the scope of “non-Aravalli” regions, thereby facilitating mining and other disruptive activities in ecologically connected areas. The Committee has also been tasked with examining concerns that only 1,048 out of 12,081 hills in Rajasthan meet the prescribed 100-metre elevation threshold and whether this leaves a large number of hill formations without environmental protection.
Emphasising the fragile ecosystem and rich biodiversity of the Aravallis, the Court said the Committee would be expected to objectively assess whether implementation of the proposed measures could result in ecological or environmental consequences that may later prove difficult or impossible to reverse. It added that any eventual decision must be scientifically sound and consistent with the principles of environmental protection and sustainable development.
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