Uniform Civil Code

UNIFORM CIVIL CODE

BY: Sunaina Sharma

ABSTRACT

In India we have two types of laws. First, those laws which apply to all equally without any distinction of any type, example Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita , Income tax act, Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam and Second, those laws which are not uniformly applicable to all, but specifically apply to certain communities. These are the personal laws (Hindu personal laws, Muslims personal laws, other communities personal laws) which are guided by our religious customs and traditions etc. Personal laws deal with matters related to marriage, divorce, adoption, maintenance etc. Within a community, in case one does not want to be governed by the personal law related to a particular community, he always has an option to go community, he always has an option to go for special acts like Special Marriage Act 1954. Our Constitution makers wanted Union Civil Code in place of different personal laws or different communities. Union Civil Code means a secular personal laws of citizens which apply on all citizens equally regardless of their religion. The relevance of the Union Civil Code in India stems from the country’s unique diversity, both in terms of religion and culture. India is a secular nation that upholds the principles of equality and justice for all its citizens.

INTRODUCTION

The Union Civil Code is a vision to contribute to a uniformly structured legislature that will reserve all aspects revolving around the personal, religious and civil laws of every religion in India. Union Civil Code aims to enforce a uniform legal framework to all citizens, irrespective of their religion. There should be bo discrimination on the basis of their civil laws and everyone has to follow, but it is an irony that a Hindu woman enjoy the uniform civil code complete right of being the single soulmate of her husband, Muslim women on the other hand don’t have this privilege. While a Hindu male is punished with an imprisonment of seven years of he brings in a second wife, a muslim male can have four wives. Uniform Civil Code will pave the way for national integration and secularism. It will also promote gender equality, welfare of women and justice. It will simplify the cumbersome  legal matter governed by personal laws. With common criminal law there can be common civil law as well. One must understand that uniform civil code is not a weapon directed against any particular community. It is simply a code that puts all the citizens of India irrespective of their caste, religion or gender under one umbrella.

UNION CIVIL CODE IN INDIAN CONSTITUTION

A uniform civil code is conceptualized as a set of laws that govern personal matters, including marriage, divorce, adoption, inheritance, and succession for all citizens regardless of their religion.

PART IV ARTICLE 44 of the constitution “The state shall endeavour to secure for the citizens a uniform civil code throughout the territory of India”[1]

It is opined by Legal Expert Professor Faizan Mustafa that, the constitution framer used the term “uniform” in art. 44 and not “common”, because common means “one and the same in all circumstances”, while the uniform means “the same is similar condition”.

Different people may have different laws, but the law with a particular group should be uniform.

WHY UCC INSERTED IN DIRECRTIVE PRINCIPLE OF STATE POLICY AND NOT IN FUNDAMENTAL RIGHTS

As evident from constitution assemble debates, all the communities, especially minorities were not confortable with losing personal laws in favour of secular laws at the time of formation of constitution. Hence, the responsibility was transferred to the future generation to implement the Union Civil Code when the time is right.

GOA CIVIL CODE

In India state of Goa, we do have a Union Civil Code which is continuation of Portuguese civil procedure code, 1939. The Supreme court, in its judgement on Jose Paulo Coutinho (2019), had referred to Goa as the “Shining example of UCC” but it has its own share of issues inherent in it. It is blamed to be deeply discriminatory towards and religions. Example the code also states that while a husband can seek divorce if his wife commits adultery, a wife can only seek relief if the husband commits adultery with “public scandal”, keeps a mistress in conjugal home or abandons her.

UNIFORM CIVIL CODE IN UTTRAKHAND

In Uttarakhand Uniform Civil Code (UCC), effective on January 27, 2025. Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami announced that the UCC will ensure uniformity in personal civil laws such as marriage, divorce, inheritance, and succession, removing discrimination based on caste, religion, or gender. The Uttarakhand Uniform Civil Code Act, 2024 mandates compulsory marriage registration, sets legal marriage ages (21 for men, 18 for women), and allows recognition of older or out-of-state marriages under certain conditions. The Act applies to all residents, including those living outside Uttarakhand, except Scheduled Tribes. CM Dhami emphasized this move as fulfilling the BJP’s 2022 election promise and aligning with Article 44 of the Constitution, which encourages a uniform civil law across India[2].

IN WHAT AREAS DO WE NEED UNION CIVIL CODE

• Union Civil Code is required to bring equality and justice for all Art. 44 of the constitution directs the state to strive towards securing a UCC for its citizens. A uniform set of laws would ensure equal treatment irrespective of caste, religion or gender.
• Section 82 of BNS 2023, deals with bigamy/polygamy is offence but the exception is Muslim marriages they are not comes under this section. In Hindu laws the irretrievable breakdown of marriage is not the valid ground for divorce. Because it’ll make the divorce easy and therefore the sanctity of the wedding in India will get easily destroyed and it’ll allow the guilty spouse to dissolve the wedding out of his own pleasure and he/she will take the advantage of his own fault by dissolving the wedding. That’s why we need to implement UCC in our country, after implementation the common marriage and divorce  performs in our country.
• In personal laws Hindu women acquires equal share in property but under the Muslim laws the Muslim women have no any equal right like a hindu’s.
• Muslim women can not claim the maintenance like other Indian womens.
• Our country require to have the fixed marriage age of all boys and girls, these all conditions are fulfil after implementation of UCC.

PREVIOUS SUPREME COURT JUDGEMENTS

1. “A common civil code will help the cause of national integration by helping different loyalties to the conflicting ideologies” (Shah Bano Case)[3]
2. “When more than 80% of citizens have been placed under the personal law codified, there is no justification to, so to keep whatever in the absence, even more, the introduction of the uniform civil code for all citizens of the territory of India” (Sarla Mudgal Case) [4]

ARGUMENTS IN FAVOUR OF UCC

1. It will integrate India: It will help in bringing every Indian, despite his caste, religion or tribe, under one national civil code of conduct.
2. Sign of modern and progressive nation: It will help the society move forward and take towards its goal of becoming a developed nation.
3. It will help in reducing vote, bank, politics: A UCC also helps in reducing vote, bank, politics that most political parties indulge in during every election.
4. More rights to thee women: A UCC also helps in improving the condition of the women’s in our country.
5. It promotes real secularism: A UCC doesn’t mean it will limit the freedom of people to follow their religion, it just means that every person will be treated the same.
6. Personal laws are a loop hole: By allowing personal laws we have constituted an alternative judicial system that still operates on thousands of year old values. A UCC would change that.

ARGUMENTS AGAINST THE UCC

1. Freedom of religion: Article 25 guarantees the freedom of religion. The personal laws are integral part of religious practice for many communities. Implementation of UCC is infringement of this right, as it may force communities to abandon their religious and traditional practices in favour of a standardized set of laws.
2. Impact on minorities rights: Implementation of UCC is threat to minorities it could undermine the rights of religious minorities, as it might seek to impose a uniform set of laws on diverse religious communities.
3. Legal complications: The process of implementation of UCC could be complex and time consuming, with potential legal complications because UCC requires the significant changes to the legal system.
4. Cultural and Religious diversity: Cultural diversity means appreciating the differences in individuals from a variety of cultural and ethnic groups within an organization. Implementation of UCC could be seen as an imposition that disregards this diversity, potentially leading to resistance and resentment among various communities.
5. Political sensitivities: The implementation of UCC is highly sensitive issue in our country and politically charged. Different parties may have their different views on UCC and they conflicting on its implementation.

UCC IN POLITICAL NARRATIVE

India is a democratic country and there are different political parties are prevailing in our country. Nowadays in our country implementation of UCC is a main issue. Is UCC IS A Hindu Muslim debate? NO, UCC is a removal of those laws in our society which are discriminatory and derogatory in nature. Implementation of UCC across India has been BJP’s dream since 1989, and while it may seem like the opposition will come from muslims, several other communities have opposed it.

For decades, the UCC in India has been a topic of hated debate and discussion. The objective of the UCC is to ensure equality and justice for all citizens irrespective of their religion, caste, creed, sexual orientation, gender and to integrate the Indian population under a single legal framework, thereby promoting national unity and secularism.

All Muslims in India are governed by the Muslim personal law (Shariat) application act, 1937. All India Muslim personal law Board opposed the UCC, claiming it will snatch away Muslim’s rights enshrined in Muslim’s Personal Laws.

Congress and other opposition parties would not like BJP govt. Would take credit for UCC implementation. Congress, the biggest opposition party, led the attack on Modi’s govt. Over UCC. The grand old party slammed the 22^nd law commission (for its recommendation to implement UCC) reminding it of the 21^st law commission’s statement. “it is neither necessary nor desirable at this stage to have the UCC”

AIMIM leader Asadudding Owaisi asked whether the country’s pluralism would be “snatched away” in the name of the UCC. Indian Union Muslim League (IUML), are opposing the UCC, saying that its implementation will destroy the cultural and religious diversity of the country [5]. Because of these all issues and conflicts it is difficult to implement UCC.

PM MODI ON UCC

• In PM Modi speech from Red Fort on India’s 78^th Independence day, Prime Minister Narendra Modi made a compelling argument for the adoption of a UCC in India, criticising the current civil code as “communal” and advocating for a secular alternative.
• The Prime Minister pointed out that citizens have been governed by a communal civil code for 75 years. He underscored the need for a secular civil code to eliminate religious discrimination.
• It is imperative that we establish a secular civil code in the country……only then can we eliminate discrimination based on religion[6]

UCC IN OTHER COUNTRIES

Union Civil Code is followed in countries like UK, France, US(California has a family code that applies to all citizens, regardless of their religion), Pakistan, Bangladesh, Malaysia, Turkey, Indonesia, Egypt and Irreland. All these countries have one set of personal laws for all religion and there are no separate laws for any particular religion or community[7]

 CONCLUSION

Implementation of UCC will change the hierarchy of inheritance in the following ways. For Hindus removal of the distinction between ancestral and self acquired property. The minimum age of marriage under the Shariat law would be changed and polygamy could be abolished.  Out of 193 member states of the United Nations only 8 countries have a Uniform Civil Code. Because they have no diversification in these countries but India is a great racial diversity, with a wide variety of different ethnic and linguistic groups.

[1] The Constitution of India

[2] ddnews.gov.in

[3] AIR 1985 SC 945

[4]AIR 1995 SC 1531

[5] thehindu.com

[6] www.business-standard.com

[7] https://www.Taxmann.com