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The Supreme Court took a significant step to protect private property from arbitrary state takeover for a “public purpose”, holding that compulsory acquisition without following mandatory procedures followed by a grant of compensation to the owners will not make the accession constitutional.
The right to property is protected as a constitutional right and has even been interpreted to be a human right
The judgment noted that though the 44th Constitutional Amendment omitted the right to property as a fundamental right, Article 300A, which was simultaneously inserted into the Constitution, provided that “no person shall be deprived of his property, save by authority of law”
A person’s rights, even the history of liberty, have been safeguarded through the prescription and observance of mandatory procedures and processes of law.
Procedure is an integral part of the “authority of law” in Article 300A.
The phrase “authority of law” in the Article should not be understood as merely the power of eminent domain vested in the state.
The requirement of a ‘law’ in Article 300A does not end with the mere presence of legislation which empowers the state to deprive a person of his property, SC clarified.
Article 300A in Constitution of India
Persons not to be deprived of property save by authority of law
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