Tribal Women's Property Rights: A Conflict Between Customary Law and Constitutional Equality UPSC NOTE

Tribal Women's Property Rights: A Conflict Between Customary Law and Constitutional Equality

Prelims: Indian Polity and Governance (Fundamental Rights - Article 14, Scheduled Areas - Fifth Schedule, Key Legislations - Hindu Succession Act, Tribal Rights); Social Justice.
Mains:

General Studies Paper 1 (Society): Role of women and women's organization; Social empowerment; Salient features of Indian Society, Diversity of India.
General Studies Paper 2 (Polity, Governance, Social Justice): Welfare schemes for vulnerable sections of the population; Mechanisms, laws, institutions and Bodies constituted for the protection and betterment of these vulnerable sections; Indian Constitution—significant provisions and basic structure.

Excluding some tribal groups in the northeastern states, customary laws in most tribal communities in India deny women inheritance rights to ancestral property. The article argues that this is a serious gender injustice.
The Supreme Court recently ruled in the landmark case of Ram Charan vs Sukhram that excluding daughters from ancestral property violates the fundamental right to equality.
A major legal reason for this problem is that the Hindu Succession Act, under its Section 2(2), does not apply to Scheduled Tribes.
The fear that tribal land will be alienated if tribal women marry non-tribals is cited as a major reason for denying women property rights.
To solve this problem, the article suggests either introducing a separate Tribal Succession Act for tribals, similar to those for Hindus and Christians, or Codification of tribal laws.

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