India, Jan. 5 -- The Aravalli range is dying a death by a thousand cuts. But the real tragedy isn't just the mining. It's the breathtaking hypocrisy of the very institutions sworn to protect this land.

Weeks ago, the Supreme Court issued a judgment that greenlit a legal sleight of hand. It accepted a government-backed definition that restricted the "Aravalli" to hills over 100 metres tall and within 500 metres of each other.

In Rajasthan alone, over 11,000 hills would suddenly be stripped of protection. The court, in that moment, became an accomplice to potential ecological erasure.

Then comes a miraculous about-face. Facing public outrage, the same court slammed the brakes. It admitted its own ruling contained a "significant regulator...