"Won't Allow Anyone To Touch Aravallis": Supreme Court On Safari Plea

The Supreme Court on Thursday asserted that it "will not allow anyone to touch" the Aravalli range while 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, made it clear that 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).

Counsel for the state told the bench that the DPR had been revised, scaling down the project area from 10,000 acres to over 3,300 acres, and urged the court to allow the revised report to be placed before the CEC.

"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," the CJI 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 added.

The bench said it would consider the safari project 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 said.

The remarks came in reference to the court's December 29, 2025 order, which kept in abeyance its November 20, 2025 judgment accepting a 100-metre height-based definition of Aravalli hills as recommended by a government committee. The earlier judgment was paused until a panel of domain experts undertakes an assessment of the committee's report.

The committee had recommended that any landform in designated Aravalli districts with an elevation of 100 metres or more above local relief be defined as an Aravalli hill. An Aravalli range, it suggested, would comprise two or more such hills within 500 metres of each other. 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 and ranges was linked to mining, and that the safari project was unrelated. The CJI, however, said that was why no project could be permitted until the definition issue was 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 observed.

When the state sought permission for the CEC to examine the safari 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.

When counsel submitted that the state was not proceeding further with the project but only seeking examination of the DPR, Justice Bagchi remarked, "You are. An action to form DPR and seek its consideration by CEC is a step to establish the safari."

The CJI emphasised the need for a holistic approach, noting 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 NGO 'People for Aravalis', who have alleged that the safari project would spell doom for the ecologically fragile Aravalli range. In October 2025, while hearing the plea, the top court had asked the Haryana government not to proceed with the project.