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29 Dec 2025, 5:38 am

NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court's three-judge special vacation bench is expected to hear the suo motu cognisance case it has taken on the crucial issue concerning the definition of the Aravalli range on December 29.

The hearing assumes significance as the top court will hear the matter on several key points that require consideration for a broader view on the issue of the definition of Aravalli.

The three-judge vacation bench led by CJI Surya Kant and Justices J K Maheshwari and Augustine George Masih is likely to hear the case.

The matter was listed as Case | In Re: Definition of Aravalli Hills and Ranges and ancillary issues, in the top court for hearing.

In its judgment on November 20 this year, the Bench led by the then Chief Justice BR Gavai accepted the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEF&CC) committee's recommended operational definition for the Aravali Hills and Ranges in the context of mining.

The apex court, while accepting a uniform, scientific definition of the Aravalli hills, imposed a ban on fresh mining leases across Delhi, Haryana, Rajasthan and Gujarat until expert reports are finalised.

The court also approved the recommendations of the committee, aimed at protecting the Aravallis, regarded as the world’s oldest mountain system.

The Supreme Court had, in its verdict, emphasised that uncontrolled mining poses a “great threat to the ecology of the nation” and directed uniform criteria to safeguard it.

It is to be noted that the Aravalli Hills are among India’s oldest geological formations, stretching from Delhi through Haryana, Rajasthan, and into Gujarat.

Historically, they have been recognised across 37 districts by state governments, with their ecological role noted as a natural barrier against northern desertification and a protector of biodiversity and water recharge.

Although the Bench allowed existing mines to operate only in strict compliance, described the Aravallis’ role as a “green barrier” against desertification and biodiversity loss.

Amidst the severe apprehension that the recent change in the definition of Aravalli may be unchecked and lead to unregulated and illegal mining, the Supreme Court had, on Saturday, taken suo motu cognisance of the matter and decided to hear it today.

The apex court took the matter on a suo motu basis, after a hue and cry by the public, environmentalists, civil society members and others expressing their apprehensions about the revised definition of the Aravalli hills, which may cause illegal mining and impact groundwater level, among others.