India
‘Government cannot take over all PVT properties for public good’: what SC said on Article 39(b) | India News – Times of India
Quashing the post-1978 judgments that adopted a socialist theme, the nine judges led by Chief Justice DY Chandrachud delivered the judgment by a majority of 8 to 1 and said that private funds can fall under the purview of Article 39(b) , depending on its nature. whether the resource is ‘material’ and the impact of the resource on the community.
Article 39(b) of the Constitution states that the state must direct policy to ensure that “the ownership and control of the material resources of the community are so distributed as may best serve the general welfare.”
The majority judgment was written by CJI Chandrachud, on behalf of himself and Justices Hrishikesh Roy, JB Pardiwala, Manoj Misra, Rajesh Bindal, SC Sharma and AG Masih, while Justice BV Nagarathna concurred in part and Justice Dhulia dissented.
Previously, in the 1980 Minerva Mills case, the Supreme Court had struck down two provisions of the 42nd Amendment, which prevented a constitutional amendment from being “questioned in any court on any grounds” and gave precedence to the Directive Principles of State. Policy on the fundamental rights of individuals, as unconstitutional.
What the SC said
- The majority opinion written by
CJI DY Chandrachud held that the expression “material resources of the community” can theoretically include private resources, but the expansive view expressed in the minority judgment of Justice Krishna Iyer in Ranganath Reddy and relied upon by Justice Chinnappa Reddy in the Sanjeev Coke case, cannot be accepted. - The Supreme Court said the introduction of dynamic economic policies over the past three decades has made India the fastest growing economy in the world. SC said it cannot subscribe to Justice Iyer’s philosophy that any asset, including that of private individuals, can be called community resource.
- The Supreme Court said there was a shift towards a socialist economy in the 1960s and 1970s, but since the 1990s the focus has shifted to a market-oriented economy. “The Indian economic trajectory eschews any specific type of economy but aims to meet the emerging challenges of a developing country,” the SC said.
- The term ‘distribution’ has a broad connotation. The various forms of distribution that may be adopted by the state may include vesting of the relevant funds in the state or nationalization, the SC said.
- However, the court said the state can claim resources that are material and owned by the community for the public good.
- Earlier, on May 1, the Supreme Court noted that nothing would be left for future hearings if it were to hold that all private property could be considered as ‘tangible resources of the community’ under Article 39(b) of the Constitution and that, accordingly, the The state can take this over to serve the ‘public interest’
- It had noted that such a judicial declaration would lead to a situation where no private investor would come forward to invest.
