SC: Tribal woman has equal property rights

The Supreme Court Thursday held that a tribal woman or her legal heirs would be entitled to an equal share in ancestral property.

- PRESS TRUST OF INDIA

A bench of Justices Sanjay Karol and Joymalya Bagchi said denying the woman heir a right in the property only exacerbated gender division and discrimination, which the law should ensure to weed out

“When applying the principle of justice, equity and good conscience, the courts have to be mindful of the above and apply this otherwise open-ended principle contextually,” the bench said.

The top court observed in the present case, if the views of the subordinate court were upheld, the woman and her successors would be denied a right to property on the basis of the absence of a positive assertion to such inheritance in custom.

“However, customs too, like the law, cannot remain stuck in time and others cannot be allowed to take refuge in customs or hide behind them to deprive others of their right,” it added.