‘Acquisition without following due process will be unconstitutional’, important decision of Supreme Court

The Supreme Court on Thursday said that compulsory acquisition of private properties would be unconstitutional if due process is not established or followed before depriving a person of his right to property. In a significant verdict, the apex court said that even a statutory scheme of payment of compensation in lieu of acquisition of private property would not be justified if due process is not followed by the State and its instrumentalities. A bench of Justices P.S. Narasimha and Arvind Kumar made this remark while dismissing the appeal of the Kolkata Municipal Corporation.

The High Court had quashed the acquisition of the property

The Kolkata Municipal Corporation had approached the apex court challenging the decision of a bench of the Calcutta High Court. The High Court had quashed the acquisition of a property on Narkeldanga North Road in the city for the construction of a park. The High Court had held that the municipal body had no power under a specific provision for compulsory acquisition. In its judgment, the apex court said, ‘We are of the considered opinion that the High Court was fully justified in allowing the writ petition and dismissing the case of land acquisition by the appellant-Corporation under Section 352 of the Act. The impugned judgment is not interfered with in any manner.’

‘Undue emphasis is given on compensation provisions’

Justice Narasimha said in the 32-page judgment, ‘Under our constitutional scheme, it is well established that fair process of law must be followed before any person is deprived of his immovable property. Even if Section 363 of the Kolkata Municipal Corporation Act provides for compensation, compulsory acquisition would still be unconstitutional if due process is not established or followed before depriving a person of his right to property.’ It said that undue emphasis is placed on compensation provisions to justify the power of compulsory acquisition, as if compensation is the entire process of valid acquisition.

What else did the Supreme Court say in its judgment?

Article 300A (Right to Property) of the Constitution states that ‘no person shall be deprived of his property except by authority of law’ and has been described as both a constitutional and a human right. “To hold that the constitutional protection is confined to the mandate of just compensation would be a tortuous interpretation of the text and, we would say, derogatory to the egalitarian spirit of the Constitution,” the bench said.