Why in News: The Supreme Court (July 2025, Ram Charan vs Sukhram) held that denying daughters property rights in tribal ancestral land violates the fundamental right to equality, reviving debate on tribal women’s inheritance rights.
Introduction
- Land ownership is central to dignity, livelihood, and empowerment.
- However, tribal women in India remain largely excluded from property rights, despite constitutional guarantees of equality.
- The recent Supreme Court judgment in Ram Charan & Ors. vs Sukhram & Ors. (2025) has reignited debate on tribal women’s inheritance rights.
Judicial Developments
Ram Charan case (2025): Denial of property rights to daughters is a violation of the fundamental right to equality.
Madhu Kishwar case (1996): Court upheld exclusion of tribal women under custom, citing legal chaos.
Prabha Minz case (Jharkhand HC, 2022): Recognised Oraon women’s inheritance rights.
Kamala Neti case (SC, 2022): Affirmed tribal women’s property rights in land acquisition compensation.
Current Scenario
- Customary laws: In Scheduled V areas (Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, Odisha), customs deny women land inheritance.
- Agriculture Census 2015–16: Only 16.7% ST women own land vs 83.3% ST men.
- Justifications given: Fear of land alienation through marriage with non-tribals; notion of land as communitarian property.
- Reality: Compensation or sale proceeds rarely reach gram sabhas; patriarchal control persists.
Challenges
- Deep-rooted patriarchal customs in tribal society.
- Exclusion from Hindu Succession Act (Section 2(2)).
- Weak codification of tribal succession laws.
- Gender inequity despite women’s major role in agriculture.
Way Forward
- Enact a Tribal Succession Act ensuring equal inheritance rights.
- Codify tribal customary laws with constitutional safeguards.
- Judicial scrutiny of customs on grounds of reasonableness, continuity, conformity with public policy.
- Promote awareness and collective mobilisation of tribal women.
Conclusion
Excluding tribal women from property ownership perpetuates structural gender inequality. Progressive judicial interventions must be supplemented with legislative codification to ensure that equality in law translates into equality on the ground.