The Supreme Court, in its September 11–21 digest, reaffirmed that Article 300A — the constitutional right to property — requires three conditions before the state can deprive a person of property: legal authority to act, a valid public purpose, and a hearing. The Court held that seizure without following these steps violates the constitutional guarantee, even when the state claims regulatory justification. The ruling consolidates the post-44th Amendment position treating property as a constitutional right, not a fundamental one.

Article 300A was inserted by the 44th Constitutional Amendment in 1978, downgrading the right to property from a fundamental right under Article 19(1)(f) and Article 31 to a constitutional right. The practical consequence: a violation of Article 300A cannot be remedied under Article 32 (Supreme Court) but can under Article 226 (High Court). However, the right still binds the state.

The Supreme Court has progressively expanded what Article 300A demands from the state. The 2024 landmark in Kolkata Municipal Corporation v. Bimal Kumar Shah (and the broader line including Vidya Devi v. State of HP) established that 'deprivation of property' requires: (1) authority of law — not just executive instruction; (2) a public purpose — the taking must serve a legitimate aim; and (3) a hearing — procedural fairness, rooted in natural justice, must precede deprivation. The September 2026 ruling reinforces this tripartite test.

For CLAT PG, the examiner's preferred method is a passage from one of these judgments followed by a hypothetical — e.g., a municipal officer demolishing a structure without notice. The aspirant must identify which limb of the Article 300A test was violated. For UPSC, the constitutional amendment number (44th, 1978) and the shift from Part III to Part XII (Article 300A sits in Part XII) are standard recall points. The distinction between 'deprivation' and 'acquisition' under Article 300A — and whether compensation is mandatory — is another live doctrinal question the Court is actively shaping.