Supreme Court calls for amendment to Hindu Succession Act to make it applicable to Scheduled Tribe women

The Supreme Court on Friday urged the Central government to consider amending Section 2(2) of the Hindu Succession Act which specifically excludes female members of Scheduled Tribes from the purview of the Act [Kamla Neti v The Special Land Acquisition Officer]..A bench of Justices MR Shah and Krishna Murari opined that there was no justification for denying the right of survivorship to female members of a community.“When the daughter belonging to the non-tribal is entitled to the equal share in the property of the father, there is no reason to deny such right to the daughter of the tribal community. Female tribal is entitled to parity with male tribal in intestate succession,” said the judgment..The bench further stated it was high time for the court to reconsider the provisions of the Act since even after 70 years of the Constitution the daughter belonging to a Scheduled Tribe was being denied equal rights."We hope and trust that the Central government will look into the matter and take appropriate decision taking into consideration the right to equality guaranteed under Articles 14 and 21 of the Constitution of India.".The Court was hearing an appeal against an order of the Orissa High Court in a dispute with regard to the apportionment of the amount of compensation regarding a land acquired.The Reference Court had denied the Scheduled Tribe daughter a share in the compensation. This order was confirmed by the High Court..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 highlighted that being a member of Scheduled Tribe, the provisions of the Act were not applicable to the appellant. Therefore, she had no right of survivorship in the joint property..The Court agreed with the respondent that as long as Section 2(2) of the Act stands without amendment, parties would be governed by them.“Therefore, though on equity we may be with the appellant being daughter .. unless Section 2(2) of the Hindu Succession Act is amened, the parties being members of the Scheduled Tribe are governed by Section 2(2) of the Hindu Succession Act,” the bench stated. .In this regard, the bench noted that if the claim of the appellant was accepted, it would tantamount to amending the law.“It is for the legislature to amend the law and not the court,” said the bench.Hence, the appeal was dismissed. .[Read Judgment]