Disregarding Supreme Court remarks over misleading the bench, and despite assurances by two of its own senior officials who made personal appearances before the court, Jharkhand has filed a review petition against the apex court’s reiterated order directing it to notify Saranda’s elephant forests as a wildlife sanctuary.
One of the country’s most significant sal forest landscapes, Saranda is a biodiversity hotspot. But deforestation and mining in the region have increasingly pushed elephant herds into neighbouring states.
Instead, the state filed a review petition on February 14 after a delay of two months. On February 17, the court registry pointed out that “the prayer is not correct”. The state refiled the petition on April 30, more than two months later. It is yet to come up for hearing.
Last year, the Supreme Court had questioned “the propriety” of keeping the notification pending despite earlier commitments, and warned the Jharkhand government against “dilly-dallying”.
When contacted, Pallavi Langar, Advocate-on-Record for Jharkhand, said: “We have sought review of the honourable court’s order as the impact on local tribal habitations, roads etc may require further studies. We have also sought condonation of delay.”
Jharkhand had raised similar concerns last year, and the top court held that “the said contention is absolutely without any substance”, adding that the state should have educated forest dwellers about the protection available under both the Forest Rights Act and the Wildlife Protection Act.
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“The bogey that on declaration of wildlife sanctuary, the habitations and rights of the tribals and traditional forest dwellers will be lost and vital public infrastructures like educational institutions, roads, etc, will have to be demolished is only a figment of imagination of the state,” the court said in its November 2025 judgment.
Sanjeev Kumar, Jharkhand’s Head of Forest Force (HoFF), did not respond to requests for comments.
In 1968, undivided Bihar declared 314 sq km of sal forests as the Saranda Game Sanctuary. More than half a century later, efforts to secure the landscape under the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972 ran into prolonged resistance from the Jharkhand government, drawing repeated Supreme Court rebukes for showing “clear contempt” and even “taking the Court for a ride”.
Consider the timeline:
* July 2022: The National Green Tribunal (NGT) asked Jharkhand to consider declaring Saranda a wildlife sanctuary after wildlife scientist Dr R K Singh moved the tribunal in 2020.
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* July 2024: Dr D S Srivastava, former member of Project Elephant Steering Committee, moved SC.
* November 2024: Jharkhand submitted there were no operational mines inside the game reserve. The SC gave it two weeks to clarify on notifying the sanctuary.
* December 2024: Jharkhand proposed a 575 sq km sanctuary, going by a map prepared by Wildlife Institute of India (WII) and in conformity with Management Plan for Sustainable Mining (MPSM).
* February 2025: SC asked Jharkhand to expedite.
* April 2025: Jharkhand submitted that the sanctuary proposal had been sent to the state’s forest head. Taking “serious note of this change of stand”, the SC questioned “the propriety of keeping the matters pending almost for four months” and summoned the state Forest Secretary.
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The Forest Secretary submitted that “certain defects” in the proposal were being rectified. The SC asked the WII to give its comments in a month, and the state to complete all formalities within a further two months.
* July 2025: Jharkhand submitted that a review committee was constituted as the state Mines and Geology Department had concerns regarding the proposal. Sanctuary was to be notified after the State Wildlife Board meeting in August.
* September 2025: Observing that Jharkhand “is indulging in not only dilly dallying tactics, but is also attempting to take the Court for a ride”, the SC held the state “in clear contempt” and directed the Chief Secretary to appear in person.
* October 2025: The Chief Secretary submitted that the 575 sq km proposal was unscientific and alleged the WII had hurriedly endorsed the draft without adequately considering community displacement, livelihood loss, mining and security concerns. Jharkhand filed a draft notification, shrinking the sanctuary to 249 sq km.
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* November 2025: Jharkhand said Saranda, a Fifth Schedule area, had for centuries been inhabited by Adivasi communities whose subsistence was tied to forest produce. It also raised concerns regarding roads, schools, health centres and police posts located within the proposed sanctuary. The state said declaring a larger sanctuary would adversely affect mining operations and aggravate the Naxalite insurgency. Saranda forest division hosts 26% of India’s iron ore reserves, it pointed out.
The SC underlined that the Collector, in consultation with the Chief Wildlife Warden, was empowered to allow the continuance of rights held by persons within sanctuary limits. The court also noted that the primary reason for constituting a review committee “was that the Geological Survey of India has identified certain Prospecting Areas for future mining which fall within the proposed area”.
Referring to the Justice MB Shah Commission’s 2013 report, the judgment underlined that “the natural forest which had taken millions of years to come to this climatic climax would be destroyed for a mine of 12 to 13 years life span”. The SC held that factoring the 22.5 sq km excluded by MSPM, Jharkhand should notify the remaining game reserve area (292 sq km) as Saranda Wildlife Sanctuary within three months from November 13, 2025.
