The Delhi High Court has emphasised the need for a Uniform Civil Code (UCC) that is ‘common to all’ in the country. The court asked the Centre to take necessary steps for the implementation of a uniform code.
Justice Prathiba M Singh said that with the dissolution of “traditional barriers of religion, community, and caste, and in view of these changing paradigms, a uniform civil code is in order” keeping in line with the greater “homogeneous" nature of the country’s demographic.
Justice Singh made the observations while hearing a plea related to the applicability of the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955, to a couple belonging to the Meena community in Rajasthan. She also said that a Uniform Civil Code in India should not remain a “mere hope”.
What is Uniform Civil Code?
A Uniform Civil Code (UCC) involves a set of rules and legal provisions that govern civil matters like marriage, inheritance, divorce and adoption. These rules would apply equally and equitably to all citizens of the country irrespective of their caste, wealth or religion.
The idea of a Uniform Civil Code was enshrined in the Constitution of India under Article 44. While Article 44 is contained within Part IV of the Constitution, which contains the Directive Principles of State Policy of India, and serve guidelines or principles, the courts of the country have continued to stress the importance of a UCC.
Currently, civil matters in the country are regulated through various laws that are divided on religious lines like The Hindu Marriage Act, Hindu Succession Act, Indian Christian Marriages Act, Parsi Marriage and Divorce Act. Other parts of the Consitution like Articles 371A and 371G protect customary law and religion-based system in the states of Mizoram and Nagaland as well.
What does the government say?
The issue of a UCC is not new. First highlighted during Colonial rule through multiple British reports, the simmering debate over the UCC hit the headlines in 1985 after the Supreme Court in a landmark judgement awarded maintenance to a 60-year-old divorced Muslim woman, Shah Bano.
The Law Commission of India in 2017 stated that the implementation of the UCC in the country was next to impossible.
“Constitution itself has given so many exemptions to so many people like the tribals, etc. There are exemptions even in Civil Procedure Code and Criminal Procedure Code… UCC is not a solution and there cannot be a composite Act. You cannot say forget the Constitution and do away with the sixth schedule. This would make people question their accession to the Indian Union on the understanding that they will be respected,” the commission said in its report.
However, the BJP government is willing to move the country towards a uniform civil regulation with the dissolution of practices like the triple talaq. In fact, the Centre told the Parliament last year that it was committed to introducing a Uniform Civil Code, but wider consultations were needed.
Women’s groups and secular organisations have, however, opposed a Uniform Civil Code.
