One country, one God, one caste, one mind brothers of all of us without difference, without doubt. By Vinayak Damodar Savarkar .
The Uniform civil code is the common set of laws on marriage, divorce and inheritance that would be applicable to all Indian citizens irrespective of religion, tribe, or other custom. Part IVof the constitution states that ‘the state shall Endeavour to secure the citizen a uniform civil code throughout the territory of India’.
In 1948, when the constitution was being framed and the value of pluralism was being discussed. One reform became a bone contention; it divided the constituent assembly for months. Uniform civil court comprises of personal matter, which deprived women. They want to abolish all law and bring uniformity which is – one nation one law. It was not accepted because it is a diverse and vast country and a conscious chaos of religion, ethic, and custom. One such law was seen as a fiendishly tough task at that time. Fundamentalists and orthodox Hindus they wanted Sharia and Shastra to determine personal law, they fear that a uniform civil code would open a pandaras box diminishing their authority .It’s origin can be traced back to the roman they govern themselves based on civil not holy texts. Mesopotamian did the same they followed code of ur namo apparently the oldest law code in history it encourages people to think themselves as one family with one set of rule .USA constitution say all men created are equal. American law treatsall religion equal.
But in India, it is based on geographer, caste especially property and inheritance for instance Northeast India like Nagaland, Meghalaya and Mizoram, they are not governed by mainstream law, they make their own law based on their customs and practices no matter how archaic they may be and these law are said to preserved the peculiar culture of these states. Muslim law personal are determined by Quran related to marriage divorce, inheritance and a women’s right to eliminate as by sharia law , a body run by men and influenced by Clerics, the British .The British supported it to divide and rule ,to segregate India. If different communities have different law there would be a friction division and the British would use it to their advantage .unfortunately for India this continued after independence .Dr.B.R.Ambedkar and Dr.Rajendra Prasad supported UCC as a means to ensure the rights for women and promote gender justice.
Owaisi rejected need for UCC in India and targeted IndianMuslims, the tribal of Northeast communities. Later in the year 1998 the Shah Bano Case highlighted more about the women rights and the Muslim communities felt that their personal law are being violated .UCC was not implemented while drafting theconstitution because India was divided on religious base.
21st Law commission in August 2018 led by former SC Justice B.S Chauhan said that the UCC is neither necessary nor desirable at this stage. In 185 consultation paper on the subjectthe commission had emphasized that secularism could not contract the plurality prevalent in the country. Culture cannot be compromised as a reason for treat to the extent that our urge for uniformity itself becomes a reason for threat to territory integrity of the nation.
The Law commission of India is an executive body which function to do legal reforms in the country and which was by the government for neither a statutory nor a constitutionality body. The Law Commission is neither a Statutory nor a constitutional body, it is a body composed of legal experts. The first law commission in India was formed in1955 with its chairman being the then Attorney –General of India, M.C Setalvad. The law commission submits reports to the various matters of legal nature which can be rejected and accepted by the government and they are not binding too.
The 22nd law panel was constituted for a period of three yearsbut the Union cabinet on February 22 extended it by one year and a half .The 22nd law panel was extended till August 31 2024,led by Justice Ritual Awathi (retd).
Goa was the first who adopted uniform civil court which replaces the personal law based on the customs of every religion community for which there is a common set of rules governing the citizen. State of Bombay v Narasu appa Mali decide the validity of Hindu Bigamous Marriage act 1946 the court comes to the conclusion that the framers of the Indian Constitution did not wish to challenged the personal law of a community by Fundamental Rights. In Goa a Hindu can marry two wives if the first wife fails to deliver a child by the age of 25 or if she fails to deliver a male child by the age of 30 years. Polygamy is prohibited while bigamy can be practiced.
The Nation is divided into two group of opinion, the first party believed that it is a violation of our Fundamental Rights, the right to practices any religion .In the case of S.R Bommai v Union of India as per Justice Jevan Reddy it was held that the religion is the matter of individual communities people faith and to follow their own custom and cannot be mixed with a uniform and secular activities is always regulated by personal law.According to Preamble of Indian constitution it states India is a secular and Democratic Republic which means that the states cannot intervene on someone personal law. Also Some Orthodox Muslim believes that their rights will be abridge. MostTribal communities believed that the UCC will create a hurdle in protecting their right and also this concept of UCC is more like a majority group imposing their thoughts on minority group and also the criminal law like IPC and CrPc are not equal across the state for example States like Maharashtra, Karnataka, Delhi has the different age limit for alcohol consumption. Section 488 of Cr.PC is omitted in Uttar Pradesh
The second group who is with the BJP govt. on the implementation of UCC believes that it will uplift the unprivileged especially the women and children who are suffering due to the personal law. Some of Muslim country who has uniform civil code are U.S, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Malaysia, Turkey, Indonesia, Egypt and Ireland, if other Muslim countriescan implement UCC why does the Muslim in India feels threatened. Why the country can’t have one law? RecentlyPushkar singh Dhami CM of Uttrakhand said that the blue print for the UCC is ready.
Lastly I would like to conclude with the question – Are the people of India ready to make a difference in the country law by accepting the UCC by sacrificing the personal law. It will definitely have advantage but will the people ready to make choices? The supporters of UCC are mostly women.
By:jimi Sono
BBA.LLB IX Sem
