NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Tuesday in its majority judgment regarding private property issues criticised former Justice V R Krishna Iyer for "postulating a rigid economic theory" that promoted increased state control over private resources as the sole foundation for constitutional governance. These comments on Justice Iyer's approach were made in the majority opinion authored by Chief Justice DY Chandrachud on behalf of himself and six other justices on the bench. The nine-judge bench, led by the CJI, ruled with a 7:2 majority that not all private properties can be classified as "material resources of the community", which would otherwise permit states to acquire them for distribution towards 'common good' under the Constitution.
"The doctrinal error in the Krishna Iyer approach was, postulating a rigid economic theory, which advocates for greater state control over private resources, as the exclusive basis for constitutional governance," the CJI wrote in the 193-page judgement. In 1977, a seven-judge bench had previously ruled with a 4:3 majority in the state of Karnataka vs Shri Ranganatha Reddy case, that privately owned resources were not within the scope of 'material resources of the community'. Justice Iyer had presented a dissenting opinion, maintaining that the state possessed authority to acquire private resources for distribution to serve common good.
He consistently upheld this position in subsequent judgements as well. In his judgement, Justice Chandrachud ci.
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