CJI Surya Kant says no permission will be granted for Aravalli Zoo Safari until expert panel submits holistic report on definition of Aravalli range
The Supreme Court of India on Thursday made it clear that it “will not allow anyone to touch” the Aravalli range, refusing to entertain any request related to the proposed Aravalli Zoo Safari project in Haryana at this stage.
A bench led by Chief Justice of India Surya Kant, and comprising Justices Joymalya Bagchi and Vipul M. Pancholi, said no permission would be granted for the project until the court takes a comprehensive view in the main matter concerning the definition of the Aravalli range.
The court was hearing a plea by the Haryana government seeking permission to submit a revised Detailed Project Report (DPR) for the proposed jungle safari in Gurgaon and Nuh districts to the court-appointed Central Empowered Committee (CEC).
State counsel informed the bench that the DPR had been revised, reducing the project area from 10,000 acres to over 3,300 acres, and urged the court to allow the updated report to be placed before the CEC.
However, the CJI firmly declined. “We will not permit anything today. We are absolutely firm. We will not allow anyone to touch this Aravalli range as of now, unless on a very scientific basis, a holistic report prepared by an impartial arbiter, a group of experts really come to our satisfaction for which we have already requested the Union of India,” he said.
He added that an expert body would be constituted based on suggestions from the Centre. “We are definitely not the experts. So, we will like to be guided by some independent agency,” the CJI observed.
The bench said the safari project would be considered only after the expert committee submits its opinion in the larger matter. “We will not grant any permission for even a single inch today unless in the main matter we are satisfied absolutely as per the law,” the CJI stated.
Definition of Aravalli under scrutiny
The remarks referred to the court’s December 29, 2025 order, which kept in abeyance its November 20, 2025 judgment that had accepted a 100-metre height-based definition of Aravalli hills as recommended by a government committee. The earlier ruling was paused pending assessment by a panel of domain experts.
The committee had suggested that any landform in designated Aravalli districts with an elevation of 100 metres or more above local relief be classified as an Aravalli hill. It further proposed that an Aravalli range would consist of two or more such hills located within 500 metres of each other. Environmental activists have warned that hills below the 100-metre threshold could be opened up for mining under this definition.
On Thursday, Haryana’s counsel argued that the issue of defining Aravalli hills was linked to mining and that the safari project was unrelated. The CJI, however, rejected the distinction, saying no project could be permitted until the definition issue was conclusively settled.
“We are not permitting anything and we do not want the platform of this court to be used for any kind of… sometimes some friendly matches also take place here. Therefore, we have to be extraordinarily cautious,” he remarked.
When the state sought permission for the CEC to examine the revised DPR, the bench declined. “We will not permit anything. We will deal with it independently here. Whatever CEC wants to say… They are very selective in their opinion… We don’t want them to examine,” the CJI said.
Justice Bagchi noted that even seeking consideration of the DPR was a step towards implementing the safari. “You are. An action to form DPR and seek its consideration by CEC is a step to establish the safari,” he observed.
Emphasising the need for a broader ecological perspective, the CJI pointed out that the Aravalli range extends beyond state boundaries. “Aravalli neither starts nor ends in Haryana. Aravalli neither starts nor ends in Rajasthan. Aravalli has a full range. We have to take a holistic view depending on the entire aspects of the Aravalli and the composite range,” he said.
The court was hearing a petition filed by five retired Indian Forest Service officers and the NGO People for Aravalis, who have contended that the safari project would endanger the ecologically fragile Aravalli ecosystem. In October 2025, the apex court had directed the Haryana government not to proceed with the project.
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Good decision.