Government cannot take every private property, Supreme Court gave important decision

property Law: Can the government acquire any private property in public interest? In response to this question, the constitutional bench of the Supreme Court gave an important decision on Tuesday. The court said that all private properties cannot be declared property of public interest. Therefore the government cannot acquire every property. However, it has the right to review in matters of public interest and in such situations it can also acquire land. The court also overturned a 1978 decision which had said that the state could acquire any private property for the benefit of the community.

Following Article 39(B) of the Constitution, a 9-judge bench of the Supreme Court gave this decision. 7 out of 9 judges ruled with majority that not every private property can be acquired for community interest. Apart from Chief Justice DY Chandrachud, Justice Hrishikesh Roy, Justice JB Pardiwala, Justice Manoj Mishra, Justice Rajesh Bindal, Justice SC Sharma and Augustine George Masih were of the opinion that not every property can be acquired. At the same time, Justice Sudhanshu Dhulia and Justice Biwi Nagarathna, who were included in the bench, had different opinions.

The Chief Justice, writing a majority judgment of seven judges, said that all private properties are not physical resources and therefore cannot be acquired by the government. According to the majority judgment of the bench, all privately owned resources cannot be acquired by the government. The Supreme Court held that the government may, however, claim resources that are material and belong to the community for the public good. The majority decision held that the earlier decision that the government could acquire private properties was motivated by a particular economic and socialist ideology.

Court said- 1978 decision was inspired by socialist ideology

The majority decision of the Supreme Court rejected Justice Krishna Iyer's previous decision which had held that all privately owned resources can be acquired by the government. Thus, the apex court overturned post-1978 decisions which had adopted the socialist idea and held that the government can expropriate all private property for the common good.