The Supreme Court has said the right to property is a constitutional right and the government cannot deprive a person of his land in an arbitrary manner. A bench of justices G S Singhvi and A K Ganguly said in a judgement that courts should view with “suspicion” the action of the government in acquiring land for private parties in the name of urgency.

The apex court passed the judgement while quashing the acquisition of 205 hectares of agricultural land in Uttar Pradesh’s Gautam Budha Nagar by the state on behalf of the Greater NOIDA Industrial Development Authority for business entrepreneurs in March 2008.