Uniform Civil Code in India

Introduction

The Prime Minister proposed a Uniform Civil Code (UCC), referring to it as a secular civil code, in his speech on the 78th anniversary of Independence Day.

What is the Uniform Civil Code?

• The Uniform Gracious Code (UCC) is portrayed in Article 44 of the Structure as a portion of the Mandate Standards of State Approach, which states that the government ought to work to set up a uniform gracious code for all citizens of India. The Prime Serve supported a UCC in his discourse on the event of the 78th Autonomy Day. He is surrounding it as a civic code for secular.
• The Portuguese Civil Code of 1867 is the only state in India with a UCC. That state is Goa.

What is the Historical Context of Uniform Civil Code?

• The British resisted standardizing family laws because they were too delicate, even though they created universal criminal rules in India.
• Muslim members of the Constituent Assembly voiced worries about the UCC’s potential effects on local personal laws throughout the deliberations, and they proposed measures to protect religious traditions.
• Conversely, proponents like B.R. Ambedkar, Alladi Krishnaswami, and K.M. Munshi contended that the UCC should advance equality.

What is the Viewpoint of Supreme Court on Uniform Civil Code?

• Mohd. Ahmed Khan vs Shah Bano Begum Case, 1985: The Court urged the implementation of Article 44, expressing sorrow that it “has remained a dead letter.”
• Sarla Mudgal v. Union of India, 1995 and John Vallamattom v. Union of India, 2003: The Court emphasized how important it is to put the UCC into effect.
• Shayara Bano v. Union of India, 2017: The Supreme Court declared that triple talaq violated Muslim women’s equality and dignity and was illegal.
• ose Paulo Coutinho v. Maria Luiza Valentina Pereira Case, 2019: The Court inquired for the bound together gracious code to be executed all through India, hailing Goa as a “sparkling illustration” where “the uniform respectful code is pertinent to all, notwithstanding of religion but whereas ensuring certain constrained rights.”

What are the Significances of the Uniform Civil Code?

• National Integration and Secularism
  • Promotes Unity: By giving all people a common identity and a feeling of community, the UCC would promote secularism and national cohesion.
  • Minimizes disputes: Eliminating disparate personal rules, would lessen disputes between communities and sects.
  • Upholds Constitutional Values: The UCC would uphold the equality, fraternity, and human dignity of every person.
• Gender Justice and Equality
  • Ensures Equality: By giving women the same rights and status in marriage, divorce, inheritance, adoption, and maintenance, the UCC would combat gender discrimination and injustice.
• Simplification and Rationalisation of the Legal System
  • Simplifies Laws: The UCC would do away with the inconsistencies and complexity of several personal laws, streamlining and rationalizing the legal system.
  • Harmonizes Legal Frameworks: Through the resolution of irregularities and gaps resulting from disparate personal laws, it would bring criminal and civil laws into harmony.
  • Enhances Accessibility: The UCC would improve public understanding and accessibility to the legal system.
• Modernization and Reform of Outdated Practices
  • Updates Practices: The UCC would update several personal laws’ antiquated and retrogressive practices.
  • Removes Harmful Practices: It will do away with practices like triple talaq, polygamy, and child marriage that are against human rights and constitutional principles.

What are the Arguments in Favour of Uniform Civil Code?  

• Equality Under the Law
  • This is consistent with the Indian Constitution’s Article 14, which protects equality before the law.
  • By standardizing marriage rules, a UCC would advance gender equality and religious freedom.
  • A possible national implementation model is the recent implementation of UCC in Uttarakhand, which outlaws polygamy and sets the normal marriage age of 21 for everyone.
• Empowering Women
  • Issues like as child marriage, uneven inheritance rights, and triple talaq might be addressed by a UCC.
  • According to NFHS-5 figures, 23.3% of women in the 20–24 age group were married before turning 18, underscoring the necessity of standardized marital rules.
• Simplifying the Legal System
  • A UCC would streamline this system, facilitating citizens’ understanding of their rights and the administration of justice by courts.
  • Personal law issues constitute a substantial fraction of civil cases, hence contributing to the backlog of judges. This burden may be lessened and legal procedures might be streamlined with a single code.
• National Integration
  • Advocates contend that by prioritizing citizenship above religious identification in legal cases, a UCC would advance national integration.
  • This is steady with the concept of “sacred patriotism” put out by scholastics such as Jürgen Habermas.
  • India is a varied country, yet the effective application of the Indian Penal Code—a common criminal code—across all ethnicities provides an example of how a single law may work there.
• Modernization and Social Reform
  • For example, the Supreme Court’s 2018 decision to legalize same-sex partnerships emphasizes the necessity of updated personal laws.
  • Potential topics for a UCC include LGBTQ+ rights in marriage, adoption, and inheritance, which are not yet consistently recognized by different personal laws.
• International Alignment
  • An example is the 1926 adoption of a secular civil code in Turkey.
  • India’s position on international human rights indexes, such as the Global Gender Gap index, might be improved by adopting a UCC. At the moment, India is ranked 129th out of 146 nations.

What are the Arguments Against the Uniform Civil Code?

• Cultural Preservation
  • A UCC, according to its detractors, may reduce this diversity and result in a homogenous culture.
  • For example, the Khasi tribe in Meghalaya may lose their distinctive matrilineal inheritance pattern.
• Religious Freedom
  • UCC’s depreciators fight that it seem damage the right to devout opportunity given in Article 25 of the Structure.
  • They argue that for many cultures, personal rules constitute an essential component of religious practice.
  • According to a Pew Research Center poll from 2021, 84% of Indians say religion has a significant role in their lives. This suggests that there may be opposition to changes to personal laws that are affected by religion.
• Minority Rights
  • Critics cite Uttarakhand’s recent adoption of UCC, which was met with resistance from minority communities who believed their traditions were not given enough weight.
  • The minority community in India, which makes up around 19.3% of the country’s total population according to the 2011 Census, is concerned that a UCC may be more affected by majority customs, which might weaken their sense of cultural identity.
• Practical Implementation
  • A UCC is “not one or the other essential nor alluring at this organize,” agreeing to the Law Commission’s 2018 consider, which cited the differences of the country in its conclusion.
  • The difficulty lies in the fact that regional differences persist even in Hindu law, which was codified in the 1950s.
  • For instance, Kerala has distinct inheritance laws according to the Hindu Succession (Kerala Amendment) Act, 2015.
• Federalism Concerns
  • The Constitution’s Concurrent List permits both state and federal governments to enact legislation pertaining to personal matters.
  • Opponents contend that a UCC enforced from the center may jeopardize state sovereignty. Despite being a state effort, the recent adoption of UCC in Uttarakhand has sparked concerns about how a federal UCC might interact with regional laws and customs.
• Economic Impact
  • During the transition phase, this may entail retraining legal practitioners, updating legal databases, and maybe adding more court cases.
  • Critics contend that rather than allocating resources for the implementation of the UCC, greater use might be made of them to solve the judicial inefficiencies that now plague India, where there is a backlog of over 47 million cases.

What Should be the Way Forward? 

• Unity and Uniformity: The UCC should stress that unity is more important than uniformity while recognizing India’s plurality and preserving its variety.
• Discussion and Deliberations with Stakeholders: It is imperative that a diverse group of stakeholders be involved in the creation and execution of the UCC, including representatives from the community, legal professionals, and religious leaders.
• Finding a Balance: Lawmakers should concentrate on getting rid of traditions that go against the constitution while making sure that cultural customs are in line with the ideas of substantive equality and gender justice.
• Constitutional Perspective: Article 29(1) of the Indian Constitution safeguards each citizen’s distinctive culture while promoting cultural autonomy and adaptation.
• Education and Awareness: For the UCC to be executed successfully, it is basic that all citizens are mindful of it and comprehend it. This calls for noteworthy outreach and instruction activities.

Conclusion

In conclusion, the Uniform Civil Code (UCC) in India presents a complex balance between unity and diversity, aiming to uphold constitutional values of equality and justice while navigating cultural and religious sensitivities. Advocates argue it promotes national integration, gender equality, and legal simplification. However, challenges such as cultural preservation, minority rights, and practical implementation remain contentious. Moving forward requires inclusive dialogue, careful consideration of diverse perspectives, and effective education to ensure widespread understanding and acceptance.

Frequently Asked Questions(FAQs)

Sources:

• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uniform_Civil_Code
• https://lawcommissionofindia.nic.in/notice/uniform-civil-code-public-notice/
• https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/over-the-years-supreme-court-has-campaigned-for-uniform-civil-code-but-refused-to-enforce-it/article68533994.ece
• https://www.hindustantimes.com/india-news/uniform-civil-code-not-acceptable-says-all-india-muslim-personal-law-board-101723939248286.html
• https://indianexpress.com/article/political-pulse/ucc-saga-pm-modi-pitch-secular-civil-code-oppn-9516479/
• https://www.crpc.in/images/uniform-civil-code.pdf