Right to Property under Article 300A

Article 300A provides that no person shall be deprived of property except by authority of law. It protects citizens and non-citizens against property deprivation based merely on executive action. The right to property is a constitutional right, but not a Fundamental Right.

Constitutional position

The Forty-fourth Constitutional Amendment Act, 1978 removed the right to property from Articles 19 and 31 and inserted Article 300A in Part XII of the Constitution.

• Because it is not a Fundamental Right, deprivation of property cannot, by itself, support a petition under Article 32.
• The expression "no person" extends the protection beyond citizens, unlike rights expressly confined to citizens.

Conditions for lawful deprivation

The phrase authority of law requires deprivation to be authorised by a valid law. A government cannot take possession, demolish property, or extinguish ownership solely through an unsupported executive order.

• The authorising law must be within the legislative body's competence and must comply with other constitutional limitations, including protection against arbitrariness.
• In K.T. Plantation v. State of Karnataka, 2011, the Supreme Court recognised public purpose as an important condition governing compulsory deprivation.
• Article 300A does not guarantee full market-value compensation in every case, but compensation provisions may be reviewed where they are arbitrary or merely illusory.

Judicial protection and remedy

Courts may examine whether a law authorises the deprivation, whether prescribed procedures were followed, and whether the measure serves a legitimate public purpose. Thus, Article 300A protects both the legality and constitutional fairness of state action concerning property.

• An aggrieved person may approach a High Court under Article 226 or use other remedies provided by law.
• Unauthorised dispossession by the state may justify restoration of property or compensation, depending on the circumstances and relief granted by the court.

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