New Delhi [India], June 30 (ANI): Congress leader Jairam Ramesh on Monday expressed disappointment that the five-member High Powered Committee set up to by Supreme Court to examine the issue of redefinition the Aravali Hills and Ranges afresh is packed with officials or retired officials and asserted that there is "no justifiable case whatsoever for a redefinition" and the Forest Survey of India had itself rejected it in September 2025.
In a post on X, Jairam Ramesh said that while his remarks are no reflection on the distinguished members "but it is the reality given the Modi regime's mindset, toolkit, and operating system".
He said that on December 29, 2025, the Supreme Court had displayed great wisdom and courage to recall, on its own, its earlier verdict of November 20, 2025, on the redefinition of the Aravali Hills and Ranges that would have proved ecologically disastrous.
"Now the Supreme Court has set up a five-member High Powered Committee to examine the issue of redefinition afresh and in detail. The Committee is packed with officials or retired officials," he said.
"The fact that it will be chaired by a SERVING officer of the Union Ministry of Environment, Forests, & Climate Change and will have as its Member Secretary another SERVING officer of the Union Ministry of Environment, Forests, & Climate Change is very disappointing and raises serious questions on how independent and unbiased the Committee can and will be. This is no reflection on the distinguished members themselves but it is the reality given the Modi regime's mindset, toolkit, and operating system," he added.
He said there was enormous public pressure when the apex court delivered its first verdict in November and that pressure needs to be intensified.
"Clearly, the redefinition threat to the Aravali ecosystem is still there. There had been enormous public, media, and civil society pressure when the first verdict had been delivered on November 20, 2025. That pressure now needs to be sustained and intensified," he said.
"We can only hope that the Committee will not end up backing the November 20, 2025, judgment in any form or to any degree. Simply put, there is NO justifiable case whatsoever for a redefinition. The Forest Survey of India had itself rejected it in September 2025," the Congress leader added.
The Supreme Court had, on December 29, 2025, "put in abeyance" its earlier November 20 order that had accepted the Union Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change's definition of the Aravalli Hills and Aravalli Range.
A vacation bench headed by Chief Justice of India (CJI) Surya Kant, along with Justices J.K. Maheshwari and A.G. Masih, also ordered the constitution of a five-member High-Powered Committee to examine issues relating to the definition of the Aravallis. The apex court issued notices to the Centre and the four Aravalli states--Rajasthan, Gujarat, Haryana and Delhi--in its suo motu proceedings on the matter.
The Supreme Court had taken suo motu cognisance of concerns surrounding the Centre's revised definition of the Aravalli Range, which was based on a 100-metre height criterion.
The Union Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change had in December directed the states to impose a complete ban on the grant of new mining leases across the Aravalli landscape to preserve the integrity of the mountain range and curb unregulated mining activities.
The Aravalli range is a 670-kilometre-long mountain range in northwestern India. The highest elevation of the range has been recorded at 1,722 metres. The hill starts near Delhi, passes through Haryana, Rajasthan, and ends in Gujarat. The highest peak of the range is known as Guru Shikhar in Mount Abu, Rajasthan. The Aravalli range is the oldest fold-mountain belt in India, dating back around two billion years. (ANI)
