Question

Which of the following Articles of the Indian Constitution originally referred to the Right to Property as Fundamental Right?
1. Article 19
2. Article 20
3. Article 21
4. Article 22

Answer 1

Correct Answer - Option 1 : Article 19

• In line with the tenets of democratic socialism, the Constituent Assembly sought to transition to a liberal democratic legal order, which guaranteed rights of liberty, equality, and property, while simultaneously endeavouring to achieve social and economic transformation premised on land reform and redistribution of resources.
• However, the inherent contradiction between conserving existing property rights and ushering in a more egalitarian society through redistribution of land led to intense debate within the Constituent Assembly, ending in an uneasy compromise between competing interests.
• As ultimately adopted, Article 19(1)(f) of the Constitution guaranteed to all citizens the fundamental right to ‘acquire, hold and dispose of property’. 
• This right was however subject to reasonable restrictions by the union and State legislatures in the public interest, stipulated in Article 19(6).
• Moreover, Article 31 of the Constitution provided that any State acquisition of property must only be upon enactment of a valid law, for a public purpose and upon payment of compensation. 
• However, the Forty Fourth Constitutional Amendment, 1978, deleted Articles 19(1)(f) and 31 from Part III, the chapter on Fundamental Rights in the Constitution. Instead, it inserted Article 300A in a new chapter IV of Part XII of the Constitution, thereby depriving the ‘right to property’ of its ‘fundamental right’ status.
• Nevertheless, Article 300A required the state to follow due procedure and authority of law to deprive a person of his or her private property.