Introduction
The Uniform Civil Code (UCC) is a vision to contribute to a
uniformly structured legislature that will reserve all the
aspects revolving around the personal religious and civil
laws of every religion in India. The UCC will grant uniform
personal laws to every religion to attain secularism and
will override personal laws of different religions, races,
caste, etc.
The practices it includes are the uniformity in-laws of
marriage, divorce, succession, adoption, guardianship,
and partition of land and assets to all citizens without any
discrimination. The other aspect of proposing UCC is to
protect the rights of women of different religions in India.
Origins of Uniform Civil Code
The origins of UCC can be traced back to Colonial rule in
India where during the year 1840, a uniform law was
enacted by the British for crimes, evidence, and
annexures, while personal laws of Hindus and Muslims
were deliberately left unattended, resulting in much
inconsistency and complexity among both religions.
After gaining independence from the British, during the
constituent assembly debates, the founding fathers of
the constitution like Dr. B.R. Ambedkar recommended a
uniform civil code to be included initially in Article 35 of
the Constitution of India, 1949 and personal laws must
be kept out of the ambit of UCC however he also
acknowledged that such implementation of UCC must be
voluntary. However, the Muslim representatives
emphasized keeping personal religious laws that were
founded on the pillars of religious customs.
Consequently, only Article 44 of the Constitution of India
could comprise the concept of UCC.
What is the Uniform Civil Code Bill
Uniform Civil Code in India Bill, 2018 is legislation
proposed by the Bharatiya Janata Party in the year 2018,
in Lok Sabha with the object of providing a common civil
code or common law for every citizen who is residing in
India irrespective of their religion, race, cast, etc. in the
entire geographical territory of India.
Objectives of the UCC Bill, 2018
Implementing the right to equality enshrined under
Article 14 and the prohibition of discrimination on the
grounds of religion, race, caste, sex, or place of birth
enshrined in Article 15 of the Constitution of India.
Eliminating personal laws which are established on the
foundations of religious beliefs and provide a
homogenous structure of laws.
Abolishing any type of discrimination against women may
arise due to the inadequate and dissimilar laws in the
Indian legal mechanism.
Uniform Civil Code – the Indian scenario
India is the world’s largest democratic country with a
population of more than 135 Crores people which usually
hails from the 6 most practised religions in India, i.e.
Hindu, Islam, Christianity, Sikhism, Buddhism, Jainism,
respectively. Apart from the religious factor, the Indian
population is also distinguished on the grounds of
language, domicile, culture, etc. Religion is the
foundation of culture, custom, tradition and therefore it
is a difficult task to abandon the long-practised customs
for any religion.
The debate over UCC has triggered much public debate
on the grounds of eliminating gender discrimination and
bestowing ‘one nation one policy’. The Indian judiciary
has also regularly emphasized enacting a UCC. While
many personal Hindu laws have been codified in the
1950s the Muslim laws are not codified comparatively.
Advantages surrounding UCC
Due to many invasions at different points of time, India
has many religions but the republic of India by the
preamble of the Constitution of India grants itself a status
of Secular state and therefore it respects and tends not
to interfere in the personal religious practices of every
religion and to attain this secularism, a UCC is an ideal
approach.
The advantages of implementing UCC are:-
Prevention of discrimination based on religion, race,
caste, gender, etc.,
UCC will also cease discrimination in subject matters of
succession, inheritance, marriage, divorce, adoption, and
guardianship, etc,
Prevention of complexity in implementing and
understanding of various personal laws of different
religion,
Prevention of violence against women and preserving the
rights of women in India, since numerous personal laws
like marriage, divorce, and succession of a certain religion
are violative of fundamental rights of women,
UCC will grant women the right to equality and
protection of the law in areas of marriage, divorce,
adoption of child, succession, and inheritance of
property, etc.
UCC will establish a secular Indian society that will
enhance the justice delivery of the judiciary.
Which Legislations are drafted to attain UCC
To attain uniformity in Independent India, Dr. B.R.
Ambedkar proposed several amendments to the Hindu
personal laws which are known as “Hindu Code Bills”. The
proposed amendments were intended at providing
uniformity in legal provisions to all religions who are not
Muslim, Parsi, Jews, and Christians. The Hindu Code Bills
legislations which tends to provide UCC includes:
Hindu Marriage Act, 1955
Hindu Succession Act, 1956
Hindu Minority and Guardianship Act, 1956
Hindu Adoption and Maintenance Act, 1956
The significance of The Hindu Code Bill, in the words of
Dr. B.R. Ambedkar, is “To leave inequality between class
and class, between sex and sex which is the soul of Hindu
society, untouched and to go on passing legislation
relating to economic problems is to make a farce of our
Constitution and to build a palace on a dung heap. This is
the significance I attached to the Hindu Code”
Apart from the Hindu Code Bills, the legislature also
enacted the Special Marriage Act, 1954, to provide
special rules for the marriage of two people from
different religions. Apart from marriage, the said Act also
reserves provisions of divorce for the same people who
performed inter-caste marriage.
The Judiciary on Uniform Civil Code
In the case of Sarla Mudgal v. Union of India (1995), the
Supreme Court of India directed the Ministry of Law and
Justice to reflect the steps taken and efforts made, by the
Government of India, towards securing a “uniform civil
code” for the citizens of India.
In the case of Mohd. Ahmed Khan v. Shah Bano Begum
and Ors (1985), the Supreme Court of India held that
Muslim women are entitled to maintenance under
Section 125 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 and
further ruled that “a uniform civil code will help the
cause of national integration by removing disparate
loyalties to laws which have conflicting ideologies” and
directed the Government to enact a UCC.
In the case of Pannalal Bansilal Patil v. State of Andhra
Pradesh (1996), the Supreme Court of India held that “a
uniform law, though is highly desirable, enactment
thereof in one go perhaps may be counter-productive to
unity and integrity of the nation. In a democracy
governed by rule of law, gradual progressive change and
order should be brought about. Making law or
amendment to a law is a slow process and the legislature
attempts to remedy where the need is felt most acute.”
In the case of John Vallamattom and Ors. V. Union of
India (2003), The Supreme Court of India held that there
is no necessary connection between religious and
personal law in a civilized society. It is no matter of doubt
that marriage, succession, and the like matters of a
secular character cannot be brought within the
guarantee enshrined under Articles 25 and Article 26 of
the Constitution. Any legislation which brings succession
and the like matters of secular character within the ambit
of Articles 25 and 26 is suspect.
Is UCC In conflict with religion
Article 25 and Article 26 of the Constitution of India
reserves fundamental rights concerning religion, such
rights are enforceable in a court of law however Article
44 concerning UCC is not enforceable in any court,
therefore, there is no possibility of UCC overlapping with
the right to religion.
The objective of UCC is to bestow uniform laws
concerning marriage, lawful separation, succession, etc.,
and not to provide a uniform method of practising
religion, hence UCC cannot conflict with the right to
religion.
Is UCC In conflict with religion
Article 25 and Article 26 of the Constitution of India
reserves fundamental rights concerning religion, such
rights are enforceable in a court of law however Article
44 concerning UCC is not enforceable in any court,
therefore, there is no possibility of UCC overlapping with
the right to religion.
The objective of UCC is to bestow uniform laws
concerning marriage, lawful separation, succession, etc.,
and not to provide a uniform method of practising
religion, hence UCC cannot conflict with the right to
religion.
Issues surrounding UCC
Issues revolving around UCC are:
Different religions having different religious faiths which
are based on the basic practices of the religion causes
difficulty in implementing a basic platform of practices for
every religion,
By attempting to implement this policy, the parliament is
only duplicating the western model of law,
The misconception of minorities that UCC will destroy
their religious practices and they will be complied to
follow the religious practice of majorities, i.e. Muslims,
Sikhs, Christians, Buddhists, Jain, and Zoroastrians,
The conflict of freedom of religion with equality before
law and right to equality,
The most significant issue is the unawareness of people
regarding the objects of UCC, and the reason for such
unawareness is the lack of education, fake news,
irrational religious beliefs, etc.
Possible solutions to the issues surrounding UCC
No empire is established overnight and in the same way,
no legal mechanism can be established overnight by
merely enacting the pending UCC Bill in the Parliament of
India. The possible solutions to UCC are:
The government of India and people who believe that
UCC will infringe their right to religion, both must work in
cooperation with each other to upgrade the laws and
society. This can be achieved after discussion with people
who believe that UCC will violate their right to religion,
by surveys, camps, etc,
The government must boost effective awareness about
the benefits of UCC among the concerned society,
To upgrade the established UCC, the government must
add new aspects like marriage, divorce, succession, and
inheritance, etc in pieces.
The government must come up with regular meetings
with people who are against the implementation of UCC,
and look into where the actual problem is lying,
The Supreme Court of India has referred to Goa’s UCC as
a ‘Shining Example” due to the features it contains. The
UCC in Goa has factors like compulsory marriage
registration, prohibition of polygamy or bigamy, uniform
age of marriage for men and women, consent of men and
women to perform a marriage, consent of both men and
women to attain lawful separation, etc. these features
can be taken as a ground of implementing UCC at a
national level,
Constituting a high-level committee can be an ideal
approach to tackle the problem of implementation of the
UCC Bill. The committee must conduct awareness
programs and unearth the root cause of the problem.
Conclusion
India is a nation where rule of law prevails and therefore
the dominance of any other factor cannot prevail,
however, due to the various personal beliefs of people,
the rule of religion is overlapping with the rule of law,
and therefore, actions must be adopted by the
government.
The Uniform Civil Code is ideal legislation that shall bring
home the secularism and uniformity in personal or civil
laws in the Indian legal mechanism. The problem lies in
the misconception of the people who are against the
implementation of UCC and therefore, the solutions
mentioned.