Constitution Bench to deliver verdict on rights to private material wealth on November 5

Supreme Court to decide if resources created by individual labor are community resources, impacting private property rights.

A nine-judge Constitution Bench of the Supreme Court is scheduled on November 5 to pronounce its verdict on the question whether material resources created by individual human labour constitute the resources of the community.

The Bench headed by Chief Justice of India D.Y. Chandrachud had focused on the contours of Article 39(b) of the Constitution, including whether privately-owned resources could be considered as “material resources of the community”.

Attorney General R. Venkataramani, appearing for the Union of India, had submitted that “all things in the material world which are available and made available by human interaction or engagement constitute the material resources of the community”.

The Chief Justice had asked whether resources created by corporations, like semiconductor chips or mobile phones, were resources of the community.

“So I build a house using my one income, is it the material resource of the community? I own a car, is it the material resource of the community? Is there no concept of private property,” Chief Justice Chandrachud had queried.

Mr. Venkataramani had responded that “if it goes beyond the boundary of private consumption, there is an element of the community having a call on the resource”.

The reference to the Constitution Bench was based on petitions filed by parties including the Property Owners Association (POA) that private properties cannot be taken over by the State under the garb of constitutional schemes of Articles 39 (b) and 31 C of the Constitution.