The Supreme Court has rejected a plea by the Mizo Chief Council claiming absolute ownership of land in the erstwhile Lushai Hills, now modern-day Mizoram, after a decade-long legal dispute.
The court held that the Mizo council failed to provide conclusive proof in support of their claim, relying on accounts and writings of scholars and officials of the British government.
The bench of justices JB Pardiwala and R Mahadevan said the petitioners approached a 'profoundly complex legal issue' in a simplistic and superficial manner without providing alternate evidence.
The Mizo council had challenged the validity of the Assam Lushai Hills District (Acquisition of Chief's Rights) Act, 1954, and a subsequent notification of March 23, 1955, which transferred the rights and interests of the chiefs in their land to the State.
The court also held that the law challenged was from a period when the right to property under Articles 19(1)(f) and 31 was a fundamental right under Part III of the Constitution, which ceased to be a fundamental right only with the passing of the Constitution (Forty-fourth Amendment) Act, 1978.
