The Supreme Court has banned all commercial and tourism activities within a five-km radius of the Jarawa Tribal Reserve on the Andaman and Nicobar Islands. 
The official notification was issued on Oct 30, 2007 declaring an area up to a five-km radius of the Reserve a ‘Buffer Zone’ and prohibiting entry of any person other than a member of the aboriginal tribe into it. This order was quashed by the Calcutta High Court. The Andaman and Nicobar Administration filed appeal against the Calcutta High Court order. Allowing the appeal the Supreme Court Bench of Justices G. S. Singhvi and S. J. Mukhopadhaya ruled that “Henceforth no commercial and tourism-related activities shall be carried out by the administration or any private individual in violation of the prohibition contained in the notification.”