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    Let private not be limited in India

    Synopsis

    Supreme Court scrutinizes private property under Constitution, seeking clarity on community resources. Nine judges interpret Article 39 b, debating 'control' and redistribution, excluding Marxist views. The role of state in addressing inequality amidst market economics remains pivotal.

    supreme courtAgencies
    Supreme Court has begun examining the question whether private property is included in the material resources of the community, which the Constitution permits the state to redistribute. This clarification is required because the Constitution left the term 'community resources' vague, and in a subsequent court ruling, the minority view held it to include private property while the majority view did not subscribe to it. The vagueness has been perpetuated by further rulings down the line that had the minority verdict as precedent. So, the specific article in the Constitution, 39 b, needs an authoritative interpretation that nine judges are now undertaking.

    Apart from private ownership, the bench could elaborate on 'control', another aspect left vague in the article. It may also clear the air on redistribution from individuals to the collective, or among individuals. Principally, though, the matter will devolve on private property, which top judges of the country have repeatedly had reservations in viewing from the Marxist viewpoint as a common resource. Excluding this view, however, leads to a loss of the state's agency to further the Constitution's still-extant Indira Gandhi-era socialist ideal. In its current pursuit of meaning, though, the court is not reviewing the legal immunity granted to the guiding principles laid down in the Constitution for the state to promote public welfare.

    It is almost 50 years since the need arose to find an answer to the question of what constitutes 'common resources'. In that time, India has changed its development course to become more reliant on market economics and its ability to create and distribute wealth. Yet, the role of state intervention to address inequality has not diminished. And, thus, the issue of interpreting resources and their distribution remains alive. A settled position delivered by a nine-judge bench of the Supreme Court - which takes considerable effort to constitute - should see the matter through for a substantial period into the future.

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