‘Earth does not belong to man’: Rajasthan HC freezes construction, mining in Jawai leopard region

Jodhpur: The Rajasthan High Court has frozen construction activity, mining and the issue of fresh tourism licences across the Jawai leopard landscape in Pali district. A division bench of Justice Pushpendra Singh Bhati and Justice Sandeep Shah passed the order on 28 April 2026 in a Public Interest Litigation by Apoorva Agrawat. The Court treated the case as fit for “continuous mandamus”.

The Court opened the order with a striking line: “The earth does not belong to man; man belongs to the earth.” It then framed the case in constitutional terms. Article 21 protects the right to a wholesome and ecologically balanced environment. Article 48A asks the State to protect forests and wildlife. Article 51A(g) makes environmental protection a fundamental duty of every citizen. Habitat degradation, the Court held, is therefore a constitutional issue and not just a regulatory one.

The Jawai region in Pali is one of India’s most striking leopard landscapes. Its granite hills, caves and water bodies support an estimated 50 to 70 leopards — among the highest densities in the country. Most of these big cats live outside notified protected areas, on a mosaic of revenue land, private holdings and community grazing land. The leopard is a Schedule-I species under the Wild Life (Protection) Act, 1972, and is listed as Vulnerable globally.

Petitioner Apoorva Agrawat, through counsel Karan Singh Shekhawat and Mahendra Kumar Gurjar, argued that this balance was collapsing. The threats listed in the PIL were unregulated tourism, illegal mining, unauthorised hotels and barbed-wire fencing across cave corridors. The PIL sought mapping of leopard caves, a 1,000-metre construction-free buffer, regulation of safaris on the lines of national parks, and a ban on night safaris.

The Court issued an interim order on 23 March 2026 restricting night safaris. It then sought the State’s assistance through Additional Advocate Generals Mahaveer Bishnoi and B.L. Bhati. Mr. Bishnoi personally visited the Jawai area and filed a detailed affidavit. He fairly conceded that until now no single authority was monitoring this mixed canvas of forest land, government land and private land.

The State accepted that Jawai’s leopards live mostly outside forest areas and are now threatened by uncontrolled eco-tourism. Many caves sit on private land, beyond direct forest control. There are no fixed safari routes or entry-exit points. Gypsy operators and guides are not registered. Only a small staff covers an area of around 250 square kilometres.

The State filed a draft Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) prepared by senior IFS officers. The SOP runs across four chapters covering governance, statutory framework, safari regulation and enforcement. It proposes mandatory GPS-fitted vehicles, registered drivers and guides, fixed routes, and a strict sunrise-to-sunset operating window. The State also flagged a 31 March 2015 order that already bars commercial activity within one kilometre of the Jawai Reserve.

The Court found the State’s draft SOP a credible expert document. Justice Bhati and Justice Shah held that the threats to Jawai’s leopards were “genuine” and that the area’s mixed land tenure could not be treated as an excuse for regulatory inaction. The forest department’s writ runs to all wildlife habitats irrespective of land classification.

The judges then held that the case warranted a continuous mandamus. This meant the Court would supervise compliance over time, instead of issuing a one-shot direction. The reasoning was that piecemeal action could not save a landscape this fragile. Senior counsel Mr. Bharat Vyas (ASG cum Sr. Adv.) and AAGs Bhati, Bishnoi and N.S. Rajpurohit were directed to ensure strict compliance.

The directions cover the entire Jawai region. This includes the 15 villages named by the Court (among them Kothar, Mori Bera, Raghunathpura, Sena, Jeevda and Beesalpur) along with all hills, caves, foothills and leopard corridors across Pali district. The existing Jawai Leopard Conservation Reserve I (notified 27 February 2013) and Reserve II (notified 15 June 2018) are also covered.

No construction may take place anywhere in this region without permission of the High Court, except within village abadis with proper permission. Status quo will be maintained on every commercial tourism establishment that disturbs leopard movement, hills or foothills. No new tourism licence will be issued for any hotel, resort, guesthouse, homestay or activity of similar nature. Even where land use change has been permitted, no change in core leopard habitat will be allowed. All mining activity in the concerned area is stayed. No further barbed-wire fencing or compartmentalisation may be carried out until further orders.

The draft SOP must be implemented immediately as a binding standard. The Jawai Safari & Eco-Tourism Coordination Committee (JSECC) proposed in Para 2.4.2 of the SOP must start functioning straightaway. The final SOP will be brought back to the Court for its permission before it replaces the draft. Plying of vehicles in the dam land and overflow area is stayed to protect bird hatcheries. Night safaris remain closed.

Crucially, the Court directed the State Government and State Wildlife Board to consider invoking Sections 8 and 18 of the Wild Life (Protection) Act, 1972, to declare Jawai a wildlife sanctuary. Section 18 lets the State declare any area outside a reserve forest as a sanctuary if it is of significant ecological or zoological value. The matter has been listed after six weeks for a compliance affidavit by the State and the Union of India.

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