'Will not allow anyone to touch Aravalli': Supreme Court refuses nod for Haryana's Zoo Safari plan

NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Thursday said that it will not allow anybody to touch the Aravalli range as of now and that projects could only be considered on the basis of a comprehensive, scientifically grounded report prepared by a panel of experts.

The top court emphasised that Aravalli has a full range and "we will take a holistic view depending on all aspects of the Aravali as a composite range."

A bench of Chief Justice of India Surya Kant and Justices Joymalya Bagchi and Vipul M Pancholi was hearing interim applications filed in the pending 1995 PIL titled 'In Re: TN Godavarman Thirumulpad'.

The matter was related to the Aravali Zoo Safari project.

Haryana government counsel submitted that they have already restricted the safari project to 3,300 acres and that revised DPR (detailed project report) is yet to be examined.

"We will not grant any permission for even a single inch today," the bench said.

"We are not permitting anything and we do not want the platform of this court… I am sorry to say, I am using blunt language, sometimes some friendly matches also takes place here… therefore, we have to be cautious and that is the reason I want to refer some matters back to the high courts," the bench added.

The Haryana state counsel insisted that CEC can examine the revised DPR.

The bench, however, said they are selective in their opinion and it does not want them to examine.

The state government contended that the Aravalli hills matter is altogether a different issue and the state is not proceeding any further in connection with safari.

"An action to form a DPR and seek its consideration by CEC is a step to establish the safari," the bench said.

"We are examining the entire issue comprehensively. Aravalli neither starts nor ends in Haryana. It neither starts nor ends in Rajasthan. Aravalli has a full range and we will take a holistic view depending on all aspects of the Aravalli as a composite range," the bench added.

The bench also asked, "at whose instance these applications were filed?"

A counsel informed the bench that five of the applicants are former forest officers and two of them are of Haryana cadre.

Haryana counsel said the safari matter is not a project of commercial purpose or mining. The bench, however, said, "We will not permit anything today, we are absolutely firm."