NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court has constituted a high-powered committee to conduct an independent review of the Centre’s report on the definition and delineation of the Aravalli hill range and directed the panel to address what it described as “critical ambiguities” in the findings.
The committee will assess if the Aravalli hills over 100 metres high form a continuous ecological area despite exceeding the proposed 500-metre gap and whether mining should be allowed in those spaces.
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 comes months after the apex court, on December 29, stayed the implementation of an October 2025 report prepared by a committee chaired by the Secretary of the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC).
The Court had then emphasised the need for an independent body of domain experts to undertake a fresh scientific and ecological assessment.
In its order, the Court observed that a “fair, impartial and independent expert opinion” was necessary after consulting all relevant stakeholders to provide definitive guidance on several contentious issues relating 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, an autonomous institution functioning under the Environment Ministry.
The committee’s members include 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 appointed Professor Jagdish Krishnaswamy of the Indian Institute for Human Settlements, Bengaluru, and Prof. Laxmikant Sharma of the Central University of Haryana as special invitees who may be associated with the committee’s work by the chairperson as required.
The Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change has been directed to nominate an officer of the rank of Director to serve as the committee’s Member Secretary.
