AMID the out cry over the new definition of Aravallis, the Supreme Court on Monday kept in abeyance its November 20 directions that accepted a uniform definition of these hills and ranges, saying there is a need to resolve “critical ambiguities” including whether the 100-metre elevation and the 500-metre gap between hills criteria will strip significant portion of the range of environment protection.

 

Proposing to constitute a high-powered expert panel, a vacation bench headed by Chief Justice of India Surya Kant said it seemed prima facie that the earlier report of a committee and the verdict had “omitted to expressly clarify certain critical issues” and there is a “dire need to further probe” to prevent any regulatory gaps that might undermine the ecological integrity of the Aravalli region.

 

It also directed that as set out in the order dated May 9, 2024, until further orders, no permission shall be granted for mining in the ‘Aravalli Hills and Ranges’, as defined in the August 25, 2010, FSI report, without its prior permission. “There has been a significant outcry among environmentalists, who have expressed profound concern about the potential for misinterpretation and improper implementation of the newly adopted definition and this court’s directions,” the bench, also comprising Justices J K Maheshwari and Augustine George Masih, said.

 

It said this public dissent and criticism appear to stem from perceived ambiguity and lack of clarity in certain terms and directives issued by the court. “Consequently, there is a dire need to further probe and clarify to prevent any regulatory gaps that might undermine the ecological integrity of the Aravalli region,” the bench said in its order passed in a suo motu matter titled ‘In Re: Definition of Aravalli Hills and Ranges and Ancillary Issues”.

 

The top court had on November 20 accepted a uniform definition of the Aravalli hill sand ranges and banned the grant of fresh mining leases inside its areas spanning Delhi, Haryana, Rajasthan and Gujarat until experts’ reports are out.