UCC — DOES INDIA NEED IT?

While we have the common law like IPC and CrPC ( Which was modified recently as Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita and Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita) for criminal cases, we don’t have a common ground for civil cases like Marriage, Divorce, Inheritance, Adoption, Succession, Maintenance, etc. Each religion has its unique set of laws. Recently, Prime Minister Modi expressed his support for the implementation of a Uniform Civil Code (UCC) in India, stating that India cannot function efficiently with a system of “separate laws for separate communities”. The only state in India that has a UCC is Goa, which retained its common family law known as the Goa Civil Code after it was liberated from Portuguese rule in 1961. The rest of India follows different personal laws based on their religious or community identity.

Many Opposition Parties slammed the PM’s remarks claiming that it acts as an encroachment on religious freedom. However, the BJP government is very keen to implement this ahead of the general elections in 2024. UCC is one of the only promises not yet fulfilled by the BJP government from its manifesto. The other promises were the Abrogation of Article 370 and the Ayodhya dispute which they kept. Meanwhile, the opposition is criticizing the BJP government, saying that it is part of their polarization tactics. Some states like Gujarat support UCC, while some states like Nagaland Criticise it.

JOURNEY OF UCC

UCC can be traced back to 1804 when France categorized its hundreds of local laws into a single set of civil laws for all its citizens. Coming to India, UCC was largely discussed while drafting the constitution of India. The debate about UCC was whether to include it in the “Fundamental Rights of the Constitution” or “The Directive Principles of State Policy”.

With a 5:4 majority vote, the committee headed by Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel decided that UCC should be included in Directive Principles of State Policy(DPSP), i.e., it's not compulsory to implement this, and it is non-justiciable. Later UCC was mentioned in Article 44 of DPSP.

After India’s independence, Hindu code bills were introduced, which largely codified and reformed personal laws in various sects among Indian religions like Buddhists, Hindus, Jains and Sikhs, but it exempted Christians, Jews, Muslims and Parsis, being identified as distinct communities from Hindus. These bills include the Hindu Marriage Act, Hindu Succession Act, Hindu Adoption and Maintenance Act etc. While for Muslims, there is Muslim personal law(Shariat) 1937 and the Dissolution of Muslim Marriage Act 1939.

Some important distinctions between Hindu and Muslim laws

According to Hindu Personal law, it is a crime for a person to indulge in polygamy. But it's not the same for Muslims. A Muslim can have up to 4 marriages. Also, an irretrievable breakdown of Marriage is not a valid ground for divorce according to Hindu personal law.

Women in the Hindu community can have an equal share of property. While women in the Muslim community can have only 1/2 of the share of their spouses. Also, Muslim women cannot claim maintenance from their spouses after divorce for their whole life.

These differences reflect that there is no Equality for women. Also, there are a lot of derogatory/discriminatory laws in each community.

Some Landmark Judgements related to UCC

1. Shah Bano Begum vs Mohammad Ahmed Khan 1985 — Shah Bano was given divorce by her husband after 40 years of Marriage and with 5 children. Indian women can claim Maintenance as per CrPC section 125, and Shah Bano claimed it under this section. But her husband filed an appeal in court against the maintenance claim. The 5-judge bench of the supreme court stated that Muslim women are entitled to claim maintenance. This was a landmark case which threw some light on UCC. But such a landmark decision was overturned later by the Rajiv Gandhi government. It passed the Muslim women act 1986, stating that Muslim women cannot claim under crpc section 125.
2. Shayara Bano- The Triple Talaq Case 2017 — The husband of shayara bano pronounced Triple Talaq and divorced her. She then filed a writ petition in the supreme court against this and challenged 3 practices of Muslim law- “Nikah Halala, Polygamy, Talaq e biddat”, stating that these practices are derogatory. In a reply, the All India Muslim Personal law board said that the Muslim personal is not codified and should get protection under Article 25 of the constitution, and it should not be challenged in court. With a 3:2 majority, The supreme Court declared that Triple Talaq is unconstitutional. It also recommended that the Parliament should enact a law to regulate Muslim marriages and divorces.

Shah Bano(left), Shayara Bano(right)

MERITS OF UCC

1. It provides Gender equality
2. It promotes real secularism
3. It provides equal status to all the citizens
4. It promotes National integration. Also, it would enable inter-faith marriages without any legal problems.
5. It's a sign of a progressive nation. Many nations like France have already implemented this.
6. It will simplify the existing personal laws of each community into a single law. There will be no complexities.

CHALLENGES IN IMPLEMENTING UCC

1. Violation of fundamental rights, as stated in Articles 25–28, guarantees the right to freedom of religion to every Indian citizen. Under this right, an individual can practice any religion of their choice, including following its distinct practices and rituals. For instance, Article 26 allows every religious denomination to manage its affairs.
2. Resistance from religious and minority groups
3. Difficult to codify as a single law — Many personal laws of various communities are not written or codified. It's just orally said. So it is difficult to compile it as a single law.

WAY FORWARD

On June 14 2023, the 22nd Law Commission of India, headed by Justice Ritu Raj Awasthi, requested input from religious organizations and the general public regarding the matter of implementing a Uniform Civil Code (UCC). The previous law commission(21st) headed by Balbir Singh Chauhan stated that “UCC is neither necessary nor desirable at this stage”.

The other argument is if UCC is not implemented, then the personal laws which are discriminatory and which do not provide equal rights to women should be abolished such that diversity in India is preserved.

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