Supreme Court: Green Cover Must Go Beyond Delhi Mindset
The top court made the observation while hearing a matter related to the Delhi Ridge.
Published : March 16, 2026 at 7:35 PM IST
New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Monday orally observed that there is a need to get out of the mindset that only the national capital needs greenery and other states are lesser mortals.
A bench comprising Chief Justice Surya Kant and Justices Joymalya Bagchi and Vipul M Pancholi made this observation while hearing a matter related to the Delhi Ridge. Senior advocate K Parameshwar is the court's amicus curiae in the matter.
The Ridge is an extension of the Aravalli Hill range in Delhi and is a rocky, hilly and forested area. For administrative reasons, it has been divided into four zones, south, south-central, central and north, which make up an area of around 7,784 hectares.
The amicus pointed to the November 11 verdict of the apex court, which directed the Centre to give statutory status to the Delhi Ridge Management Board and make it the single-window authority for all matters related to the Ridge and Morphological Ridge. The top court had then directed the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change to formally constitute the DRMB under Section 3 of the Environment Act, 1986.
The bench observed there was a need for a holistic approach to the issue of green cover. "We need to get out of this mindset that only Delhi, being the national capital, needs to have greenery and the others are lesser mortals," the bench observed.
Centre's counsel contended that a notification was issued constituting the DRMB on December 1, 2025. The bench asked the Centre to bring on record an affidavit with details of the constitution of statutory or non-statutory committees dealing with the management of forest and green areas and/or related to environmental issues.
The bench said the affidavit should also explain the statutory framework under which different bodies were constituted. The bench said the affidavit must be filed within two weeks, and the matter would be heard afterwards.
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