Overview
- A three‑judge vacation bench led by Chief Justice Surya Kant, with Justices J.K. Maheshwari and A.G. Masih, will take up the suo motu matter on December 29.
- The November 20 order had accepted an operational definition that treats an Aravalli hill as a landform rising at least 100 metres above local relief and a range as two or more such hills within 500 metres.
- The environment ministry has directed a complete ban on granting any new mining leases across the Aravalli belt from Delhi to Gujarat and told states to ensure strict compliance at existing mines.
- ICFRE has been tasked to draft a science‑based Management Plan for Sustainable Mining for the entire landscape and to identify additional no‑mining zones, with a draft to be placed for public consultation.
- Environmental groups and opposition parties contend the height‑based test strips protection from most of the range and have sought recall of the order, while the government rejects claims of dilution and notes mining is not permitted in Delhi‑NCR.