5 min readNew DelhiJun 3, 2026 01:57 PM IST The Supreme Court has set up a five-member high-powered committee (HPC) with the director general of the Indian Council of Forestry Research and Education (ICFRE) as the ex-officio chairperson to examine the definition of Aravallis, which limits the hills to landforms at an elevation of 100 metres or more. The other members of the HPC are Subhash Ashutosh, ex-director general, Forest Survey of India; Rajendra Kumar Sharma, director (retd.), Geological Survey of India; Brij Mohan Singh Rathore, former joint secretary, Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change and Ashok K Bhatnagar, former professor and head of botany at Delhi University. Jagdish Krishnaswamy, Dean, School of Environment and Sustainability, Indian Institute for Human Settlements, and Laxmikant Sharma, Professor, Central University of Haryana, will serve as special invitees. A bench of Chief Justice of India (CJI) Surya Kant and Justices Joymalya Bagchi and Vipul M Pancholi directed the committee to submit its comprehensive report before August 31. As per the May 25 order, which was made available on …