New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Monday, December 29, kept in abeyance the directions in its November 20 verdict that had accepted a uniform definition of the Aravalli hills and ranges recommended by a committee of the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change.
A vacation bench led by Chief Justice of India (CJI) Surya Kant and Justices J K Maheshwari and Augustine George Masih proposed to constitute a high-powered committee comprising domain experts to undertake an exhaustive and holistic examination of the issue.
The committee had recommended that Aravalli Hill be defined as any landform in designated Aravalli districts with an elevation of 100 metres or more above its local relief, and the Aravalli Range will be a collection of two or more such hills within 500 metres of each other.
The top court issued a notice to the Centre and others in the suo motu matter and posted it for further hearing on January 21.
The Congress welcomed the Supreme Court’s decision, calling the directive a “flicker of hope.” The party has strongly opposed the redefinition, stating it would lead to catastrophic destruction of the hills.
“The Indian National Congress welcomes the directives given by the Supreme Court on the redefinition of the Aravallis being pushed through by the (Narendra) Modi government,” said Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh.
“The issue is now to be studied in greater detail. It needs to be recalled that the redefinition has been opposed by the Forest Survey of India, the Central Empowered Committee of the Supreme Court, and by the amicus curiae himself,” he said.
The Congress leader said there is now a temporary respite, but the struggle to save the Aravallis from the “machinations of the Modi government” to open it up to mining, real estate, and other activities will have to be resisted in a sustained manner.
Ramesh also said that in light of the Supreme Court’s latest order, the Union environment minister must resign immediately. “It (the SC order) is a rejection of all the arguments he has been giving in favour of the redefinition,” he said.
