All private property cannot be taken over by government: Supreme Court
In a landmark judgement today, the Supreme Court held that not all privately owned properties are community resources that can be taken over by the state for common good. A nine-judge Constitution Bench headed by Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud delivered the verdict on the contentious issue by a majority of 8-1.
Three judgments were written – the Chief Justice wrote a judgment for himself and six colleagues, Justice BV Nagarathna wrote a concurrent but separate judgment and Justice Sudhanshu Dhulia dissented. The bench comprised Chief Justice DY Chandrachud, Justice Hrishikesh Roy, Justice Nagarathna BV, Justice Sudhanshu Dhulia, Justice JB Pardiwala, Justice Manoj Mishra, Justice Rajesh Bindal, Justice SC Sharma and Justice AG Masih.
The case deals with Article 31C of the Constitution which protects laws made by the state to carry out the Directive Principles of State Policy – the Constitution lays down guidelines for governments to follow while making laws and policies. The laws protected by Article 31C also include Article 39B. Article 39B states that the State shall direct its policy to ensure that the ownership and control of the material resources of the community are distributed in such a manner as best to subserve the common good.