<h1>Tribal women and heirs granted equal shares in ancestral property under Articles 14 and 15</h1> The Supreme Court ruled that a tribal woman and her legal heirs are entitled to equal shares in ancestral property, overturning lower court decisions that denied such rights. The case involved legal heirs of a scheduled tribe woman seeking partition of their maternal grandfather's property. Trial and appellate courts had dismissed their plea, citing absence of evidence showing women's inheritance rights in tribal custom. The Supreme Court found this violated constitutional principles of equality under Articles 14 and 15, which prohibit discrimination based on gender. The court emphasized that customs cannot remain static and should not be used to deny property rights. It held that denying women equal inheritance rights when custom is silent lacks rational basis and violates constitutional equality principles, establishing that justice, equity and good conscience require equal property rights regardless of gender in tribal communities.