Question

To which of the following categories of rights does the Right to Property belong?
A)Legal right
B)Fundamental right
C)Human right
D)Natural right

Answer 1

Hint: Rights are claims that an individual has over society or the government. Natural rights are rights that have philosophical and religious backing and are believed to be granted to us by virtue of being human. Human rights, though similar in nature to natural rights, became popular with the United Nations Declaration of Human rights. These are enforceable or unenforceable moral commitments which have been agreed upon by the international community.Legal and fundamental rights, unlike natural and human rights, are enforceable rights and claims.

Complete answer: In order to attempt this question, it is important to understand the difference between legal and fundamental rights with reference to Indian context.
Fundamental rights are those rights which are justiciable in nature and in case of violation, the person can approach the Supreme Court directly. They are guaranteed by the constitution.
Legal rights have the backing of only ordinary law and can be changed by ordinary legislation. One cannot directly approach the Supreme court when their legal rights are violated.
The Right to Property was once a Fundamental Right which was made a legal right by 44th Constitutional Amendment. Before 1978,Article 19(1)(f) guaranteed to every citizen the right to acquire, hold and dispose of property. Article 31, on the other hand, guaranteed every person, whether citizen or non-citizen, right against deprivation of his property.However the 44th Constitutional Amendment abolished the right to property as a fundamental right.A new article 300A was created , titled Right to Property, which states that no person shall be deprived of his property except by authority of law. With this change of status from fundamental right to legal right, right to property now has safeguards against only executive action. This means, in case a proper legislation is enacted following due procedure, a person can be deprived of his property.Also ,there is no guaranteed right to compensation in case of acquisition or requisition of the private property by the state.

Option (c ) human right and option (D )natural right are not correct as unlike natural and human right , Right to property has the backing of ordinary law.
Option (B ) Fundamental right is incorrect as Right to property earlier was a fundamental right but 42nd Constitutional Amendment made it a legal right.

Therefore, the correct answer is option (A). Right to property is a legal right.

Note: Though the Fundamental Right to Property under Part III has been abolished, the Part III still carries two provisions which provide for the guaranteed right to compensation in case the state carries out acquisition or requisition of property of minority educational institutions or land held by a person under his personal cultivation and the land is within the statutory ceiling limits.