SC form expert panel to re-examine Aravalli definition

The Supreme Court has constituted a high-powered committee to conduct an independent review of the Centre’s report on the definition and delineation of the Aravalli hill range and directed the panel to address what it described as “critical ambiguities” in the findings. The committee headed by Kanchan Devi, Director General of the Indian Council of Forestry Research and Education (ICFRE), has been directed to submit a comprehensive report by August 31, 2026. The move comes months after the apex court, on December 29, stayed the implementation of an October 2025 report prepared by a committee chaired by the Secretary of the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC). The court had then emphasised the need for an independent body of domain experts to undertake a fresh scientific and ecological assessment. In its order, the court observed that a “fair, impartial and independent expert opinion” was necessary after consulting all relevant stakeholders to provide definitive guidance on several contentious. 

The newly constituted high-powered committee (HPC) will be chaired ex-officio by Kanchan Devi, a 1991-batch Indian Forest Service officer. The committee’s members include Dr Subhash. Ashutosh, former Director General of the Forest Survey of India; Dr Rajendra Kumar Sharma, former Director of the Geological Survey of India; Brij Mohan Singh Rathore, former Joint Secretary in the Environment Ministry; and Prof Ashok K Bhatnagar, former Head of the Department of Botany at Delhi University.