Compulsory acquisition of property [Repealed]
Official heading: “Compulsory acquisition of property”
Originally guaranteed property compensation; repealed in 1978 to resolve recurring judicial conflict over agrarian land reform and wealth redistribution, converting property from a Fundamental Right into an ordinary constitutional right.
- Source edition
- The Constitution of India (as on 1 May 2026)
- Source locator
- Part III, Article 31, printed page 16
- Last human source-link check
- Not yet checked
- Last human legal review
- Not yet reviewed
AI-assisted source comparisons are noted with the citations below; the check date remains pending until a human confirms the link. The report link opens your email app; you choose whether to send it.
1. In One Sentence
Article 31 was the original fundamental right guaranteeing compensation for compulsory property acquisition; it was repealed in 1978 and converted into a constitutional right under Article 300A.
2. What It Means in Everyday Language
Under the original 1950 Constitution, Article 31 guaranteed that no person could be deprived of property save by authority of law, and any compulsory acquisition or requisition required public purpose and the payment of compensation.
Because judicial disputes over compensation repeatedly impeded legislative land reforms and agrarian redistribution, Parliament repeatedly amended Article 31 before finally repealing it altogether through the Constitution (Forty-fourth Amendment) Act, 1978.
Today, the right to property is no longer a Fundamental Right under Part III. It survives as a constitutional right under Article 300A in Part XII: "No person shall be deprived of his property save by authority of law."
3. Practical Illustrative Example
A municipal development authority seeks to acquire private residential land for road expansion.
4. Important Limits, Qualifications & Exceptions
Article 31 is completely inoperative in Part III of the Constitution.
- Repealed by section 6 of the Constitution (Forty-fourth Amendment) Act, 1978, with effect from 20 June 1979.
- Direct fundamental writ remedies under Article 32 do not apply directly to property rights; remedies lie under Article 226 or ordinary civil litigation.
- Minority educational institution properties retain compensation protections under Article 30(1A).
5. Historical constitutional wording — not operative
6. Sources & Historical Assembly Deliberations
Assembly quotations are withheld until wording, dates, and attribution have been checked against the primary record.
- •Government of India (Legislative Department, Ministry of Law and Justice) • Part III, Article 31, printed page 16 • Human source-link check pending
Primary PDF accessed and transcribed with AI assistance on 14 October 2026. Formatting and amendment annotation markers are omitted; operative wording is retained. This is not human legal review. Later amendments and commencement notifications have not been comprehensively checked.