The Supreme Court has taken suo motu cognisance of the growing controversy surrounding its November 20 ruling that defined the Aravalli Hills for mining purposes, registering a fresh civil case to re-examine the issue amid strong opposition from environmentalists. The matter will be heard on Monday by a Bench led by Chief Justice Surya Kant, a move that places renewed judicial scrutiny on a definition with far-reaching consequences for mining regulation, water security, and air quality across North India.
The controversy stems from the Court’s earlier acceptance of an expert committee’s definition that classified “Aravalli Hills” as landforms in Aravalli districts with an elevation of 100 metres or more from local relief, and an “Aravalli Range” as two or more such hills located within 500 metres of each other. The committee comprised senior officials from the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, state forest departments of Rajasthan, Haryana, Gujarat and Delhi, along with representatives from key national agencies.
Environmental groups argue that this elevation-based benchmark could effectively open vast tracts of lower-height hills to mining activity, fragmenting the ancient range and diluting long-standing environmental safeguards.
During the earlier proceedings, the Court was confronted with sharply diverging views. Assisting the Bench as amicus curiae, senior advocate K. Parameshwar warned that the proposed definition would permit mining in hills below 100 metres, undermining the ecological unity of the Aravallis. His concern, recorded in the order, was stark, “If the definition as suggested by the Committee is accepted, it would totally endanger the environment and ecology of the mountains.”
The Union Government, through the Additional Solicitor General, countered that alternative criteria, such as a slope-based definition, would exclude even larger areas, whereas the committee’s formulation actually brought more land under the Aravalli umbrella. With public debate intensifying, the Court has now decided to revisit the issue on its own motion, formally registering a suo motu case titled Definition of Aravalli Hills and Ranges and Ancillary Issue.
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