Women's Inheritance Rights

Gujarat High Court: A Tribal Widow's Inherited Land Is Hers to Will Away, Absent a Proven Custom Barring Her

Deciding a second appeal over agricultural land in Surat district contested since 2002, the Gujarat High Court has held that a Scheduled Tribe widow who inherits property from her husband takes it as her own absolute, self-acquired property — free to bequeath it by will — unless a custom restricting female inheritance is actually pleaded and proved, not merely assumed.