Overview
- A three‑judge vacation bench led by Chief Justice Surya Kant, with Justices J.K. Maheshwari and A.G. Masih, will hear the suo motu matter on December 29.
- The Environment Ministry has directed all Aravalli states from Delhi to Gujarat to halt the grant of any new mining leases across the range.
- ICFRE has been tasked to draft a science‑based Management Plan for Sustainable Mining and to identify additional no‑mining zones, with a draft to be opened for public comment.
- The Supreme Court’s November 20 order accepted a panel’s operational rule defining an Aravalli hill as a landform at least 100 metres above local relief, with hills within 500 metres forming a range.
- Activists and opposition parties warn the rule could strip protection from large areas, while the government rejects this as misinformation and says existing mines must comply with strict environmental safeguards.