"Right to Property is a Human Right": Supreme Court's Verdict on Land Acquisition

Apex court, through its spectacular jurisdiction, reminded state about Human Rights of citizens. Verdict of 8th January by the Supreme Court on land acquisition will be a matter of great importance in the history of the Indian legal system.

Crux of the Matter

1. “Right to property is a human right. The state can’t take possession over any private property on the name of “adverse possession” without following due legal process,” said the Supreme Court.

2. The doctrine of adverse possession enables a person or state to acquire ownership over a piece of property (mostly land) based on continuous possession or occupation of the land without the consent of its legal owner.

3. A bench of justices Indu Malhotra and Ajay Rastogi declared this judgment.

4. Justice Malhotra said that this is the same case with Ms. Vidhya Devi, whose land had been taken by the state without following legal process. The state had failed to pay the compensation for 52 years.

5. Being illiterate, Ms. Vidhya was unaware of her human rights but as soon as she came to know about her rights, she moved to High court for compensation of her land.

6. The high court failed to entertain the case saying that she would need to file a civil suit in the lower court. But Ms. Vidhya was determined to get justice and moved to the Supreme Court.

7. Thus Supreme Court came on the verdict and ordered the state to pay 1 crore rupee as compensation to Ms. Vidhya under Article 31 (as of in the year 1967) and Article 300A.

Curiopedia

Land Acquisition in India – Land acquisition in India refers to the process by which the union or a state government in India acquires private land for the purpose of industrialization, development of infrastructural facilities or urbanization of the private land, and provides compensation to the affected landowners and their rehabilitation and resettlement. Land acquisition in India is governed by the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013 (LARR) and which came into force from 1 January 2014. More info

Curated Coverage

1. Hindu – Private property is a human right: Supreme Court

2. Indian Express – State cannot deprive citizens of their property without sanction of law: Supreme Court

3. Wire – State Cannot Deprive Citizens of Private Property Without Legal Sanction: SC

#HumanRight #LandAcquisition #RighttoProperty #SC