Ranchi

The Jharkhand government has filed a review petition in the Supreme Court of India, seeking clarification on aspects of its earlier directive to declare the Saranda Forest Division a wildlife sanctuary, Jamshedpur MLA Saryu Roy claimed on Thursday.

Roy cited a written reply by the state forest department to his starred question in the Jharkhand Assembly, saying the government chose to seek a review before implementing the court’s order.

On November 13, 2025, the apex court had directed the Jharkhand government to officially notify 31,468 hectares of the ecologically significant Saranda forest as a wildlife sanctuary, granting a three-month deadline to issue the final notification.

In its order, the court underlined the ecological importance of the region, describing the Saranda forests as “one of the most pristine Sal forests in the world.”

“The Jharkhand government has not implemented the Supreme Court order declaring Saranda Forest Division as a wildlife sanctuary, but has instead filed a review petition seeking clarification on certain points of the earlier order. This information has been provided by the government in a written reply to my starred question in the Assembly,” Roy told PTI.

He pointed out that the three-month deadline for implementing the Supreme Court’s directive expired on February 12.

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“The state government has also not disclosed in its written response the date on which the review petition was filed, or whether the petition has been admitted by the Supreme Court,” the MLA added.