Supreme Court Declares Private Property a Human Right

Granting relief to an 80 year old woman from Himachal Pradesh, Supreme Court Bench in its 8th January judgement stated that a citizen’s right to own private property is a human right and the state cannot take possession of it without following due procedure and authority of law.

Background of the Case

• The Himachal Pradesh government forcibly took over four acres of land from Vidya Devi, an illiterate woman, at Hamipur district to build a road in 1967 and failed to pay her a compensation for 52 years.
• Ms. Devi first learnt about her right for compensation in 2010 from her ....