Vidya Devi Vs The State of Himachal Pradesh & Ors. (Supreme Court of India)
Summary: The Supreme Court held that the State cannot dispossess a citizen of private property without authority of law and thereafter seek to perfect its title by pleading adverse possession. The appellant, an almost 80-year-old illiterate widow from a rural background, owned about 3.34 hectares of land in Himachal Pradesh. Her land had been taken over by the State in 1967-68 for construction of the Nadaun-Sujanpur Road without acquisition proceedings or payment of compensation. The State admitted that it had continuously possessed the property since 1967-68, but sought to defend its possession by asserting adverse possession and delay and laches.
The Supreme Court observed that when the appellant was forcibly dispossessed in 1967, the right to property was a fundamental right under Article 31 of the Constitution. Even after the Constitution (Forty-Fourth Amendment) Act, 1978, the right to property continued as a human right in a welfare State and as a constitutional right under Article 300A. No person could therefore be deprived of property except by authority of law. The Court held that the State’s contention that the appellant or her predecessors had orally consented to acquisition was completely baseless and disclosed a complete lack of authority and legal sanction for the compulsory divestment.
