Supreme Court Sets Up Expert Committee to Define Aravalli Hills and Ranges

The Supreme Court has constituted a five-member High-Powered Expert Committee to carry out a comprehensive review of the definition and demarcation of the Aravalli Hills and Ranges. The order marks a significant turn in the long-running litigation over protection of the Aravallis, one of the oldest mountain systems in the world, which stretches across Gujarat, Rajasthan, Haryana and Delhi and acts as a natural barrier against desertification of the National Capital Region.

Why the Aravallis Matter

The Aravalli range is far more than a line of hills on the map. It recharges groundwater for a water-stressed region, hosts forests and wildlife corridors, and checks the eastward march of the Thar desert towards Delhi and the surrounding plains. Decades of quarrying and real estate pressure have degraded large stretches of the range, and the Supreme Court has been policing illegal mining in the Aravallis through long-running public interest litigation. Every regulatory consequence in that effort, from mining bans to construction controls, depends on a threshold question: which landforms legally count as part of the Aravalli Hills and Ranges.

Why a New Committee Was Needed

The question of what exactly counts as an Aravalli hill has major legal consequences. Mining restrictions, forest protections and construction controls apply to land that falls within the Aravalli range, so the definition determines the geographic reach of environmental safeguards. The Court had earlier accepted a uniform definition based on height and cluster criteria. Concerns were subsequently raised that this definition could exclude large parts of the range from protection and open them up to mining and construction. The Supreme Court has now stayed the operation of its earlier judgment on the definition and referred the issue to expert evaluation, observing that decisions with far-reaching environmental consequences should not be taken without the benefit of expert study.

Composition and Mandate of the Committee

The High-Powered Expert Committee is headed by the Director General of the Indian Council of Forestry Research and Education, Kanchan Devi. The committee has been tasked with formulating a uniform definition and demarcation of the Aravalli Hills and Ranges that can be applied consistently across the affected states for regulating mining and other activities. It has been directed to submit its comprehensive report by August 31, 2026, and the Supreme Court will take up the matter again on September 7, 2026.

Restrictions on Mining in the Interim

The Court has made clear that the regulatory pause will not become a window for exploitation. No new mining leases or renewals of existing leases in the Aravalli region are permitted unless specific approval is obtained from the Supreme Court itself. This interim arrangement reflects the precautionary principle, a core doctrine of Indian environmental law under which the absence of scientific certainty is not a reason to defer protective measures. Until the committee reports and the Court decides, the protective status quo prevails.

Expert Committees in Environmental Adjudication

The order reflects a settled pattern in Indian environmental jurisprudence: where a dispute turns on scientific or technical questions, constitutional courts prefer to act on the advice of expert bodies rather than substitute their own assessment. Committees of this kind allow the Court to gather field data, hear the affected states and arrive at a demarcation that can survive scrutiny. The two-stage design here, an expert report by the end of August followed by judicial consideration in September, also gives state governments and other stakeholders a defined opportunity to place their positions before the committee rather than litigating the science before the bench.

What This Means for States, Industry and Landowners

For the mining industry, the order effectively freezes new approvals across the region for at least the duration of the committee's work. State governments will need to align their mining and land-use decisions with the Supreme Court's interim directions, and any approval granted in conflict with them risks being set aside. For environmental groups, the stay of the earlier definition is a notable outcome, since the height and cluster based criteria were criticised as under-inclusive. Landowners and developers in districts along the range should anticipate that the final demarcation may alter what activities are permissible on their land, and should track the September hearing closely.

Key Takeaways

The Supreme Court has stayed its earlier definition of the Aravalli Hills and handed the question to a five-member expert committee chaired by the ICFRE Director General, with a report due by August 31, 2026. New mining leases and renewals in the Aravalli region require the Supreme Court's specific approval in the meantime. The final definition will determine the geographic scope of mining bans and environmental protections across four states, and the matter returns to the Court on September 7, 2026.