The Court stated that there was “no basis to deny such privilege to the daughter of the tribal group” because the daughter who belonged to the non-tribal community was entitled to an equal portion in the father’s property.
The Hindu Succession Act’s Section 2(2), which expressly exempts female members of Scheduled Tribes from its coverage [Kamla Neti v. The Special Land Acquisition Officer], was suggested to be changed by the Supreme Court on Friday.
According to Section 2(2) of the Hindu Succession Act, the statute which guarantees equal shares for male and female heirs is not applicable to members of Scheduled Tribe communities
A Bench led by Justice M.R. Shah said that there was no justification to deny a woman belonging to a Scheduled Tribe community the “right of survivorship” under the Hindu Succession Act.
The tribal women were still denied an equal right to their fathers’ property 70 years after the Constitution was established, which the court found stunning.
The decision was made on Friday in a case involving a lady from a Scheduled Tribe group who was seeking her fair portion of the money paid to the male heirs after their father’s property was taken over for a large-scale power project.
The appellant argued that the denial of right to succession to a Scheduled Tribe woman amounted to deprivation of the right to livelihood under Article 21.
On the other hand, the respondents emphasised that because the appellant was a member of a Scheduled Tribe, the Act’s provisions did not apply to her. She was therefore not entitled to a share of the joint property’s survivorship.
In this regard, the bench stated that accepting the appellant’s argument would amount to altering the law.
“It is for the legislature to modify the legislation, not the court,” the bench stated.
“We hope and trust that the Central government will look into the matter and take an appropriate decision taking into consideration the right to equality guaranteed under Article 14 and 21 of the Constitution,” the Supreme Court observed.
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