The court established that sacred groves in Rajasthan must be classified as 'forests' under the Forest Conservation Act, ensuring their protection and recognizing community rights for sustainable management.

JUDGMENT :

Mehta, J.

- Bhagwat Gita (Chapter 13, Verse 20)

[Translation: Nature is the source of all material things: the maker, the means of making, and the things made. Spirit is the source of all consciousness which feels pleasure and feels pain.]

I. INTRODUCTION

1. India is home to thousands of community-protected forests known as ‘Sacred groves’. These areas are patches of forest or clusters of trees that hold deep cultural or spiritual significance for the local communities that protect and sustain them.

2. As defined by Collins Dictionary, the term "sacred" describes ‘something that is sacred is believed to be holy and to have a special connection with God’, while "grove" refers to a ‘group of trees that are close together’. Sacred groves, therefore, symbolize a harmonious blend of natural and spiritual elements, embodying both ecological and cultural value.

3. Sacred groves are conserved by the local residents for a variety of reasons, ranging from belief in a forest deity to the protection of a spring or as sacred space where ancestors are buried¹[Lebbie &Freudenberger 1996; Chandan & Hughes 1997; Malhotra et al. 2007; Sheridan & Nayamweru 2008; Ormsby & Edelman 2010; Ormsby 2012]. The size of sacred groves ranges from very small plots of less than 1 hectare to larger tracts of land of several hundred hectares[² [Ntiamoa-Baidu 1995; Malhotra et al. 2007]]. In some cases, these fragments of sacred groves represent the sole remaining natural forests outside of protected areas and, therefore making them some of the last locations with potential for the conservation of flora and fauna.

4. Sacred groves, like Living Root Bridges of Meghalaya (a UNESCO recognised World Heritage Site), locally recognized as Jingkieng Jri, show the deep connection between people and nature. The Living Root Bridges, built by the Khasi tribes, are an incredible example of traditional knowledge, where Ficus trees are carefully grown to form strong, living structures. These bridges provide essential pathways in one of the rainiest places on the earth and carry cultural and ecological importance. Over generations, they have adapted to harsh weather, demonstrating a sustainable way of living in harmony with nature. Similarly, sacred groves across India reflect ancient traditions of forest conservation, where nature is respected and protected, helping preserve biodiversity and ecological balance.

5. India has the highest concentration of sacred groves in the world (estimated to be over 100,000 sacred groves³[K.C. Malhotra, Y. Gokhale, S. Chatterjee, and S. Srivastava, SACRED GROVES IN INDIA, Aryan Books International (New Delhi, 2007)]), however, these groves are rapidly vanishing due to the increasing demand for timber, urban expansion, deforestation for agriculture, and the pressure to extract natural resources. The sacred groves are known by diverse names across different regions: Devban in Himachal Pradesh, Devarakadu in Karnataka, Kavu in Kerala, Sarna in Madhya Pradesh, Oran in Rajasthan, Devrai in Maharashtra, Umanglai in Manipur, Law Kyntang/Law Lyngdoh in Meghalaya, Devan/Deobhumi in Uttarakhand, Gramthan in West Bengal, and Pavithravana in Andhra Pradesh.

6. The present Interlocutory application concerns the protection of the sacred groves/Orans of the Rajasthan. We will briefly discuss them.

II. ORANS OF RAJASTHAN

7. The State of Rajasthan is vertically divided in two parts north to south, by the Aravali hills. To the west of the Ar