) The Supreme Court’s 9-Judge bench overturns a series of its judgements since 1978, by which adopting a socialist theme had ruled that to develop an egalitarian society, the government should direct its policies to redistribute the community’s material resources, including privately owned properties, to subserve the common good.
Chief Justice of India D Y Chandrachud led bench ruled that Justice Krishna Iyer’s 1978 ruling that all properties of private individuals can be termed community property—advanced socialist economic ideology, hence unsustainable. However, it said that some private property could be termed community property.
The Bench held that there was a shift towards a socialist economy in the 1960s and 1970s, but the focus shifted to a market-orientated e economy since the 1990s. “India’s tragectory of economy eschews any particular type of economy but is meant to meet emerging challenges of a developing country,” the Supreme Court said.
The bench said that adoption of dynamic economic policy through the last 30-odd years has made India the fastest growing economy in the world.
The bench also said it cannot subscribe to Justice Iyer’s philosophy that every asset, including that of private individuals, can be termed a community resource.
The 9-Judge bench’s majority judgement was authored by CJI Chandrachud for himself and Justices Hrishikesh Roy, J B Pardiwala, Manoj Misra, Rajesh Bindal, S C Sharma, and A G Masih. Justice B V Nagarathna partially dissented with the CJI, while Justice S Dhulia differed with the CJI.
