Constitutional text

Article 31 has been deleted from Part III by the Constitution (44th Amendment) Act, 1978. The original text guaranteed that no person shall be deprived of property save by authority of law, and that no property shall be compulsorily acquired except for a public purpose and except by making or securing payment of compensation. As amended over time, 'compensation' was replaced with 'amount' to prevent judicial review of adequacy of payment. The 44th Amendment deleted Article 31 from Part III and moved property rights to Article 300A, which provides only that no person shall be deprived of his property save by authority of law.

Source: Constitution of India, as published by the Ministry of Law and Justice.

History and context

Article 31 was the central battleground of constitutional politics in independent India's first three decades. Land reform was the defining political project of post-independence governments: zamindari abolition (ending the system of large landlords), imposition of land ceilings, and eventual nationalisation of banks and industries all required the state to take private property. From the outset, the Supreme Court used Article 31 to strike down land reform laws when it found compensation inadequate or the legislation procedurally flawed. The government responded with constitutional amendments. The First Amendment (1951) added Articles 31A and 31B and the Ninth Schedule, a constitutional safe harbour designed to shield land reform laws from challenge. The Fourth Amendment (1955) tried to ensure Parliament, not courts, set the level of compensation. The 17th Amendment (1964) and 25th Amendment (1971) progressively stripped courts of the power to review whether compensation was adequate. Indira Gandhi's government replaced the word 'compensation' with 'amount' to prevent any judicial scrutiny at all. After the Emergency, the Janata government finally resolved the debate by deleting Article 31 from Part III in 1978. The right to property became a mere statutory right under Article 300A, which provides much weaker protection.

Amendments

  • 1st Amendment (1951) — Added Articles 31A and 31B and the Ninth Schedule to protect land reform laws from challenge under Article 31.
  • 4th Amendment (1955) — Amended Article 31 to provide that compensation for compulsory acquisition would be fixed by Parliament, not subject to judicial review.
  • 25th Amendment (1971) — Replaced the word 'compensation' with 'amount' to prevent courts from reviewing the adequacy of payment for acquired property.
  • 44th Amendment (1978) — Deleted Article 31 from Part III entirely; moved property rights to Article 300A as an ordinary legal right, no longer enforceable directly in the Supreme Court under Article 32.

Key Supreme Court cases

State of Bihar v. Kameshwar Singh (1952)

The Supreme Court struck down a Bihar zamindari abolition law for discriminatory classification, directly triggering the First Constitutional Amendment which added the Ninth Schedule to protect land reform laws from judicial review.

Kesavananda Bharati v. State of Kerala (1973)

The 13-judge bench held that Parliament cannot amend the Constitution so as to destroy its basic structure; while the right to property was at issue in this case, the majority did not ultimately hold property to be part of the basic structure, and subsequent amendments proceeded to delete it.

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Last reviewed: 3 July 2026