New Delhi: A very important order from a nine-judge Constitutional bench has gone under the radar because of developments elsewhere—mainly Canada and the US.
On Tuesday, the Supreme Court ruled that not all private properties can be considered “material resources of the community” under Article 39(b) of the Constitution and taken over by the State in the interests of the “common good”.
But to understand how we got to this judgment, we have to go back to 1950 when our Constitution was put into effect. When the leadership of the time got down to the job of governance, they felt that this Constitution was much too liberal to fit in with their ideological views—which was essentially Socialism.
What began within a year’s time, and the first amendment to the Constitution was passed, including giving government power over citizens’ property, has evolved into this week’s crucial judgment.
In Episode 1550 of #CutTheClutter, Editor-in-Chief Shekhar Gupta traces the evolution of property rights under Article 39(b) of the Indian Constitution and how the issue can be traced back to a 1977 minority opinion by Justice V.R. Krishna Iyer.
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