Right to property is a human right: Supreme Court

New Delhi, October 4
Widening the scope of human rights, the Supreme Court has ruled that people’s right to own property fell very much within the domain of human rights. Pointing out that human rights were “gaining a multi-faceted dimension,” a Bench comprising Justices Dalveer Bhandari and Deepak Verma observed that these rights had already covered the “individual rights such as right to health, right to livelihood, right to shelter and employment etc.”
“Right to property is also considered very much a part of the new dimension now,” the Bench held in a verdict that questioned the rationale behind the law on adverse possession under which any person in illegal occupation of a property for 12 years could claim legal ownership of it. Providing yet another new dimension to human rights, the SC opined that “even claim of adverse possession has to be read in that context.” This clearly implied that depriving an individual of his property amounted to violation of his human rights.