Article 31

 Article 31 Right to Property

The right to property was a fundamental right that was omitted by the constitution (44th Amendment) Act 1978.

The amendment abolished the right to property as a fundamental right and incorporated as a constitutional right to be regulated by the ordinary law. It inserted a new chapter-4 i.e., Right to Property in part 12 of the constitution.

The chapter has now only one Article 300A. There are certain exceptions or limitations enshrined under Article-31A to 31D. In other words, Article-31A, 31B, 31C and 31D of the Indian Constitution provides immunity to certain laws from being challenged.

Articles 31A, 31B, 31C and 31D deals with the “Saving of Certain Law” that is explained in:

1. 31(A) Saving of laws providing for the Acquisition of Estates etc
2. 31 (B) Validations of certain Acts and Regulations
3. 31(C) Saving of laws giving effect to certain directive principles.
4. 31(D) Saving of laws in respect to Anti-National Activities

31(A) Saving of laws providing for the Acquisition of Estates etc:

Article-31(A) was added by the constitution (First Amendment) Act 1951.

It provides that, any law which is passed for the acquisition of any estate or modification of any such right shall not be void on the grounds that it abridges any rights, which are conferred by Article-14 or Article-19 of the constitution.The main object of Article-31A if to facilitate the Agrarian Reforms and to validate the acquisition of the Zamindars.

In Vajaralu

 V

Special Deputy Collector

It has been observed that the protection of Artcle-31A is not applicable to the law which seeks to modify the right of the owner without any reference to Agrarian Reforms.

In Amar Singh

V

State of Rajasthan

It has been observed that the Rajasthan Land Reforms and Resumption of Jagir Act 1952, is one for the acquisition of the property and is within the legislative competence of the state and is protected by the Article- 31A of the Constitution.

31 (B) Validations of certain Acts and Regulations:

Article-31B was added by the constitution (First Amendment) Act 1951, in the 9th schedule. The object was to protect certain acts and regulations from being void on the grounds of their being violation of fundamental rights. Article-31B has been held to be a constitutional device to place the specified statutes beyond any attack on the grounds that they infringe the Part-3 of the constitution.

In Waman Rao

V

Union of India

The Supreme Court held that the amendment made to the constitution before 24/4/1973 which added the entries to the 9th schedule are void.

31(C) Saving of laws giving effect to certain directive principles:

Article-31C was added by the constitution (25th Amendment) Act 1971.It empowers the Parliament as well as the state legislatures to enact the laws towards securing the Directive Principles that is specified in Article-39(b) and 39(c) of the constitution.

Such laws cannot be challenged on the grounds that they infringe the fundamental rights that were guaranteed under Article-14 to 19 of the constitution. Thus, Article-31C gives priority to the Directive Principles contained in Article39(b) and (c) over the fundamental rights guaranteed under Article-14 and 19 of the constitution.

In Kesavnanda Bharti

V

State of Kerala

The court held that the declaratory clause in Article-31C was unconstitutional as it was destructive of the basic feature of the constitution i.e., the Judicial Review. Article-31C was amended by the constitution (42nd Amendment) Act 1976, for widening its (Article-31C) scope, covering all the directive principles for giving the immunity to all the legislations in pursuance of the directive principles from being attacked invoking Article-14, 19 and 31.

In Minerva Mills Ltd

V

Union of India

The validity of 42nd Amendment, which enlarges the scope of Article-31C, was challenged. The Supreme Court held that the 42nd Amendment was void to an extent that it enlarged the Article-31C beyond 25th Amendment Act 1971.

31(D) Saving of laws in respect to Anti-National Activities:

Article-31D was inserted in the constitution conferring on the parliament to make the laws to prevent the formation of the Anti- National Associations.However, the Article-31D was omitted by the constitution (42nd Amendment) Act 1977.