The Supreme Court has constituted a high-powered expert committee to independently review the Centre’s report on the definition and delineation of the Aravalli hill range, flagging what it termed as “critical ambiguities” in the findings.
The committee, headed by Kanchan Devi, Director General of the Indian Council of Forestry Research and Education (ICFRE), has been directed to submit a comprehensive report by August 31, 2026.
The move follows the apex court’s December 29 order staying the implementation of an October 2025 report prepared by a committee led by the Secretary of the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC).
At the time, the court underscored the need for an independent assessment by domain experts.
In its latest order, the court observed that a “fair, impartial and independent expert opinion” was necessary after consultations with all stakeholders to offer clarity on contentious issues linked to the protection of the Aravalli ecosystem.
The newly constituted high-powered committee (HPC) will be chaired ex-officio by Kanchan Devi, a 1991-batch Indian Forest Service officer.
The panel includes Dr Subhash Ashutosh, former Director General of the Forest Survey of India; Dr Rajendra Kumar Sharma, former Director of the Geological Survey of India; Brij Mohan Singh Rathore, former Joint Secretary in the Environment Ministry; and Prof Ashok K Bhatnagar, former Head of the Department of Botany at Delhi University.
The court also named Professor Jagdish Krishnaswamy of the Indian Institute for Human Settlements, Bengaluru, and Prof Laxmikant Sharma of the Central University of Haryana as special invitees.
They may be associated with the committee’s work at the chairperson’s discretion.
The Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change has been asked to nominate an officer of Director rank as the committee’s Member Secretary.
The HPC has been tasked with examining key concerns arising from the October 2025 report, including whether restricting the definition of the Aravalli range to areas within 500 metres between two or more hills significantly reduces protected land and potentially enables mining and other environmentally harmful activities.
The committee will also assess whether Aravalli hills with elevations of 100 metres and above form a continuous ecological system even when separated by distances exceeding the proposed 500-metre threshold, and whether mining should be allowed in such gaps.
Another issue before the panel is the report’s claim that only 1,048 of Rajasthan’s 12,081 hills meet the 100-metre elevation benchmark. The HPC will evaluate whether the assessment is scientifically and factually sound and whether it leaves lower-elevation hill formations vulnerable to losing environmental safeguards.
Additionally, the panel will examine whether existing regulatory mechanisms have major gaps requiring a broader scientific and geological study of the Aravalli range.
The committee’s formation follows consultations among stakeholders in the case. During the last hearing on May 25, the Centre informed the bench that four experts recommended by both the amicus curiae and the Central Empowered Committee (CEC) could be included in the panel, with the DG of ICFRE serving as chairperson.
(With inputs from PTI)