SC reserves verdict on whether private properties can be termed material resources of community
NEW DELHI, May 1 (PTI): A nine-judge Supreme Court bench reserved its verdict on Wednesday on a vexed legal question that whether private properties can be considered “material resources of the community” under Article 39(b) of the Constitution and consequently, taken over by State authorities to subserve the “common good”.
The question is being dealt with by the Constitution bench headed by Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud. The bench is hearing 16 petitions, including the lead petition filed by the Mumbai-based Property Owners’ Association (POA) in 1992.
The POA has vehemently opposed Chapter VIII-A of the Maharashtra Housing and Area Development Authority (MHADA) Act. Inserted in 1986, the chapter empowers state authorities to acquire cessed buildings and the land on which those are built if 70 per cent of the occupants make such a request for restoration purposes.
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