Supreme Court grants 6 more weeks to panel to fix boundaries for leased areas on Andhra-Karnataka border

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Tuesday extended by six weeks the time for a committee headed by former judge Justice Sudhanshu Dhulia to fix the boundaries of the leased areas and the reserved forest areas in borders of Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka so as to ascertain the extent of illegal encroachment, illegal mining and other unauthorized activities.

A bench of Chief Justice of India Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi took note of submissions that the committee had already undertaken its work but required more time to finalise its report.

The bench said it is inclined to grant six weeks’ time to the committee for furnishing its report, considering the nature of responsibility assigned to it.

Senior advocate Sidharth Luthra appeared on behalf of the Andhra Pradesh government.

Karnataka was represented by Additional Advocate General Nishanth Patil.

In September, 2025, the court appointed the committee headed by Justice Dhulia and asked it to submit its report within a period of three months.

The request to set up a committee was made by the Andhra Pradesh government so as to fix the boundaries of the leased areas and the reserved forest areas and to ascertain the extent of illegal encroachment, extent of illegal mining and other unauthorized activities.

The respondents Obulapuram Mining Company and others had then opposed the submission. They said that what was agreed upon was only demarcation of the lease hold areas. They submitted that now the state government was attempting to go beyond what was agreed upon earlier.

Declining to go into that controversy between the State and the respondents, the court appointed the committee, headed by Justice Dhulia, and comprising a member of the Central Empowered Committee, Secretary, Department of Industries and Commerce (Mines), Government of Andhara Pradesh or his nominee, Secretary from the Department of Environment, Forest, Science and Technology, or his nominee, a nominee of the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, and Secretary Department of Revenue, Government of Andhra Pradesh or his nominee.

The court had then said, the committee while finalising its report, would hear all the concerned parties including the respondents.