Hindu Succession Act Doesn't Apply To Scheduled Tribes: Supreme Court Reiterates

The Supreme Court has reiterated that the Hindu Succession Act, 1956 (HSA) does not apply to members of Scheduled Tribes.

A Bench of Justice Sanjay Karol and Justice Prashant Kumar Mishra set aside a direction issued by the Himachal Pradesh High Court, which had held that daughters in tribal areas of the State would inherit property in accordance with the Hindu Succession Act and not tribal customs.

The apex court observed that such a direction ran contrary to Section 2(2) of the HSA.

As per Section 2(2) of the Act :

“Nothing contained in this Act shall apply to the members of any Scheduled Tribe within the meaning of clause (25) of Article 366 of the Constitution unless the Central Government, by notification in the Official Gazette, otherwise directs.”

The appeal arose from a 2015 judgment of the Himachal Pradesh High Court which, while deciding a second appeal, had observed that daughters in the State's tribal areas should be governed by the Hindu Succession Act rather than customary laws, in order to prevent “social injustice and exploitation.”

The Supreme Court noted that this sweeping direction, contained in paragraph 63 of the High Court judgment, was not part of the issues framed or questions argued before it, and hence could not have been issued.

Relying on its earlier decision in Tirith Kumar & Ors. v. Daduram & Ors. (2024) the Bench reiterated that members of Scheduled Tribes are expressly excluded from the purview of the Hindu Succession Act.

The Court observed :

"In view of the provisions of Section 2 of the Hindu Succession Act, 1956 no such directions extracted supra, could have been issued by the High Court, more so in a case where the issue was neither directly nor substantially involved in the intra-party appeal, arising out of the judgment and decree passed in a civil proceeding. Further, the directions issued by the High Court were not emanating from any one of the issues framed by the Court or pleas raised/agitated by the parties."

In Tirith Kumar, the Supreme Court had urged the Parliament to extend the Hindu Succession Act to Scheduled Tribes. Likewise, in Kamla Neti v. LAO (2023), the Supreme Court noted that “it is high time for the Central Government to look into the matter and if required, to amend the provisions of the Hindu Succession Act by which the Hindu Succession Act is not made applicable to the members of the Scheduled Tribe.”

Appearances: Adv. Rebecca Mishra, amicus curiae; Adv. Rajesh Gupta, for the appellant.

Case : Nawang and another v. Bahadur and others

Citation : 2025 LiveLaw (SC) 1025

Click here to read the judgment