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PM Modi Pushes For Uniform Civil Code How It Can Impact Differe

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has pushed for a Uniform Civil Code (UCC) in India, which would establish common personal laws for all religious communities, replacing the current system where each religion has its own laws. However, the idea of a UCC has been debated since India's independence, with some arguing it could undermine cultural diversity and people's right to their personal religious laws. Previous Law Commissions have examined the issue but stopped short of making a final recommendation. The Supreme Court has supported the idea of a UCC, arguing it could help national integration, but said it should only be implemented when social attitudes are ready for the change.

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PM Modi Pushes For Uniform Civil Code How It Can Impact Differe

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has pushed for a Uniform Civil Code (UCC) in India, which would establish common personal laws for all religious communities, replacing the current system where each religion has its own laws. However, the idea of a UCC has been debated since India's independence, with some arguing it could undermine cultural diversity and people's right to their personal religious laws. Previous Law Commissions have examined the issue but stopped short of making a final recommendation. The Supreme Court has supported the idea of a UCC, arguing it could help national integration, but said it should only be implemented when social attitudes are ready for the change.

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DHANVANTH A
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© © All Rights Reserved
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PM Modi pushes

for Uniform Civil Code:


How it can impact
different communities
Prime Minister Narendra Modi Tuesday made a pitch for
the Uniform Civil Code (UCC) and hit out at Opposition
parties for allegedly inciting minority communities
against it.

UCC is the idea of having a common code of personal


laws for people of all religions. Personal law includes
aspects of inheritance, marriage, divorce, child custody,
and alimony. However, currently, India’s personal laws
are fairly complex and varied, with each religion
following its own specific regulations.

While the form and shape of a common civil code are


often debated, the idea also finds mention in the
Constitution.

Part IV of the Indian Constitution deals with the


Directive Principles of State Policy, which, although not
enforceable by courts, are supposed to act as guiding
principles that play a fundamental role in governing the
country. Article 44 mentions the State should “endeavour
to secure for citizens a Uniform Civil Code throughout
the territory of India.” PM Modi in his speech also
emphasised that the UCC was an idea mooted by the
makers of the Constitution.

What was the debate in the Constituent Assembly?

The Constituent Assembly witnessed a lengthy


discussion on a common civil code while adopting it as a
directive principle.

When the said Article was being discussed on November


23, 1948, several Muslim members suggested adopting a
common civil code with a caveat that it would apply to
citizens with prior consent. However, BR Ambedkar was
strongly opposed to the amendments.

Uniform Civil Code And Its Politics Explained | UCC India | #HarshTag I…
I…
Mohamad Ismail, a member from Madras, proposed a
proviso be added to it, stating that “the personal law of
any community which has been guaranteed by the statute
shall not be changed except with the previous approval of
the community ascertained in such manner as the Union
Legislature may determine by law.”

Ismail also said that a group or community’s right to


follow its personal law was a fundamental one and that
any tinkering with it would be “tantamount to
interference with the way of life of those people who
have been observing these laws for generations”.

After this, Naziruddin Ahmad from West Bengal said


that it’s not just Muslims who will be inconvenienced by
the UCC, as each religious community has its own
religious beliefs and practices.

Adding to this, Madras-based B Pocker Sahib Bahadur


said, “By uniform, I ask, what do you mean, and which
particular law, of which community are you going to take
as a standard?” Making a reference to the differing
Mitakshara and Dayabhaga systems within the Hindu
law, he said, “There are so many other systems followed
by various other communities. What is it that you are
making the basis?”

Similarly, lawyer and educator KM Munshi, who


founded Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, said that Hindus
themselves have their separate laws and asked, “Are we
going to permit this piecemeal legislation on the ground
that it affects the personal law of the country? It is
therefore not just a question for minorities but also
affects the majority.”

Finally, Ambedkar, the then Chairman of the Drafting


Committee, pointed out that barring the North-West
Frontier Province, Muslims in different parts of India
like Bombay and the United Provinces were governed by
Hindu law in matters of succession until 1937. However,
he assured that the UCC would not be enforced upon the
people as Article 44 “merely proposes that the State shall
endeavour to secure a civil code”.

Ambedkar also underlined the possibility that a future


Parliament could make provisions for applying the UCC
in a “purely voluntary” manner.

What have the previous Law Commissions said?

In 2016, a reference was sent by the Ministry of Law and


Justice to the Law Commission for examining all matters
relating to the UCC’s implementation.

First came the 21st Law Commission of India, which,


after taking in the views of various stakeholders, issued a
consultation paper instead of a final report on the issue.
The paper, titled Reforms of Family Law, was published
on August 31, 2018, and argued for reforming family
laws across religions through amendments and
codification of personal laws to limit “ambiguity in
interpretation” and application.

Citing sati, devadasi, triple talaq, and child marriage as


examples of ‘social evils’ under the garb of religious
customs, the Commission observed that these “practices
do not conform with basic tenets of human rights and nor
are they essential to religion”.

Relying on the Constitution’s Sixth Schedule, which


provides certain protections to some states, the paper said
that while framing laws, it must be remembered that
“cultural diversity cannot be compromised to the extent
that our urge for uniformity itself becomes a reason for
threat to the territorial integrity of the nation.”

Since over three years had lapsed since the paper’s


publication, the 22nd Law Commission of India
considered it “expedient to deliberate afresh over the
subject”, in light of its importance, relevance, and also
“various court orders on the subject.”

However, even before the UCC was taken up by the Law


Commissions, it was extensively deliberated by the
judiciary, from as far back as 1952.

What has the Supreme Court said?


In a number of rulings, the SC has supported the
introduction of UCC. Notable among the rulings is the
landmark 1985 Shah Bano ruling in which the SC upheld
the right of a Muslim woman to seek alimony. The
judgment set off a political battle as well as a controversy
about the extent to which courts can interfere in Muslim
personal law and the decision was undone by Parliament.

“A common Civil Code will help the cause of national


integration by removing disparate loyalties to law which
have conflicting ideologies,” the Court had said.

In Sarla Mudgal v Union of India (1995), the SC while


prohibiting conversion to Islam to benefit from laws that
allow polygamy said that the need for a UCC “can hardly
be doubted”. However, it added that this can happen only
when the social climate is “properly built up by elite of
the society” and “statesmen amongst leaders who instead
of gaining personal mileage rise above and awaken the
masses to accept the change.”

In October 2022, the Centre, while responding to a plea


filed before the top court for uniformity in laws of
divorce, succession, inheritance, adoption and
guardianship, said that the Constitution obligated the
State to have a UCC for its citizens and that the matter
would be placed before the 22nd Law Commission.
PDF's generated at: Wed Jun 28 2023 05:24:54
GMT+0000 (Coordinated Universal Time)

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