Focus: GS-II Governance, Prelims
Why in news?
- The Supreme Court has reiterated that forcible dispossession of a person of his private property without due process of law is a human right violation.
- In a recent judgment by a Bench led by Justice S.K. Kaul, the court stressed, quoting from its judgments, that right to property is both a human right and a constitutional right — the latter under Article 300A of the Constitution.
- The verdict came on the acquisition of a few acres in Sikkim by the State’s Agriculture department in 1980 for building the Progeny Orchard Regional Centre.
Highlights of the Judgement
- The appellant could not have been forcibly dispossessed of her property without any legal sanction, and without following due process of law, and depriving her payment of just compensation.
- It is accepted in every jurisprudence and by different political thinkers that some amount of property right is an indispensable safeguard against tyranny and economic oppression of the government.
- Property itself is the seed bed which must be conserved if other constitutional values are to flourish.
Right to property in the Constitution of India
- The Constitution of India originally provided for the right to property under Articles 19 and 31.
- Article 19 guaranteed to all citizens the right to acquire, hold and dispose of property.
- Article 31 provided that “no person shall be deprived of his property save by authority of law.” It also provided that compensation would be paid to a person whose property has been taken for public purposes.
- The 44th Amendment of 1978 removed the right to property from the list of fundamental rights.
- A new provision, Article 300-A, was added to the constitution, which provided that “no person shall be deprived of his property save by authority of law”.
Article 300-A
- Article 300A states that – No person shall be deprived of his property save by the authority of law.
- Therefore, the article protects an individual from interference by the State and dispossess a person of the property unless it is in accordance with the procedure established by law.
