Overview
- The top court has taken suo motu cognisance and listed a CJI Surya Kant–led bench to hear the case on Monday in In Re: Definition of Aravalli Hills and Ranges and ancillary issues.
- The Centre has told Delhi, Haryana, Rajasthan and Gujarat to stop granting new mining leases until a court‑mandated Management Plan for Sustainable Mining is completed, while existing leases continue under safeguards and certain strategic‑mineral exceptions.
- Documents show the environment ministry asked the Survey of India on December 17 to map Aravalli areas using the Supreme Court‑accepted 100‑metre local‑relief test and tasked ICFRE with drafting the mining management plan under newly formed oversight and technical committees.
- Environmental experts and opposition leaders argue the 100‑metre criterion would exclude most low ridges from protection, citing Forest Survey of India data, and some call the announced lease ban a weak, non‑binding measure without a formal notification.
- Protests have escalated across Rajasthan, with Congress, NSUI and Youth Congress mobilisations, a planned ‘Aravalli Satyagraha Yatra’ from January 7–20, and Rajasthan’s chief minister pledging no tampering with the range and ordering joint drives against illegal mining.