UNIFORM CIVIL CODE

Author:Vidhyanand Roy
Student at Sri Krishna Jubilee Law College, Muzaffarpur, Bihar

ABSTRACT

“ I measure the progress of a community by the degree of progress which women have achieved”

The purpose of writing this article is not only to make laymen realized the importance of Uniform Civil Code or Samaan Nagrik Samhita, but also to make them conscious about the unity and integrity of the nation, India con sists of various ethnic tribes and it is also known as the home of all the religions of the world, we have differen t cultural practices and traditions, and maintaining unity among all sections of the society is very challenging, t he constitution of India provides various provision, to maintain unity and integrity of the nation, it would had b een a big blunder on the part of the makers of the constitution if the seats would have been reserved in the Parli ament or in the State Legislatures on the basis of religion, India does not have any state religion and therefore, India is known as a secular country, apart from the constitutional rights each religion has their own personal la ws and rules for marriage, inheritance, succession and divorce, etc, so that not a single religious communities f eel deprived of their rights or feel oppressed from the numerical majority community, to fulfill the ideals of th e Preamble and to maintain the democratic march of the nation, UCC can be another effective means if it gets implemented by the Parliament after taking into account all the opinions of the common people. The UCC hav e been provided under Part IV, Article 44, of the constitution of India under Directive Principle of State policy and we adopted this principle from the Irish constitution.

Brief History of UCC

When India was under tge colonial rule, the British government submitted its Lex Loci Report in 1840, stressin g the need for uniformity in the codification of Indian Laws relating to crimes, evidence and contracts, howeve r, the personal laws of Hindus and Muslims were kept outside such codification. In the far end of the British ru le there were an increase in the legislation dealings with the personal issues which ultimately forced the govern ment to form the BN Rao committee to codify the Hindu Law in 1941, the draft of the BN Rao committee was then submitted to the select committee which was headed by BR Ambedkar for discussion in 1951. During this time the Hindu Code bill was lapsed and it was again submitted in 1952, and after four years that is in 1956 th e Hindu Succession Act was passed to amend and codify the laws relating to intestate succession among HInd us, this gave Hindu women greater property rights and ownership, it also gave women property rights in their f ather’s estate. After independence Hindus have to follow the Hindu code bill in 1956 in the form of four Acts t he Hindu Maintenance Act, the Hindu Marriage Act, the Hindu Succession Act, Minority and Guardianship A ct, for Muslims, the Shariat law prevails and AlL Indian Muslim Personal Law Board keeps promoting to regu late their laws.

Current scenario of UCC

Till now Goa is the only state in India which has UCC, since 1962, but in the most recent developments Uttrak hand became the second state to passed the UCC Act, on 7th February, 2024 which was notified on 13th March, 2024, after the assent of the President, this act is applicable to the resident of Uttrakhand who are residing bot

h outside and inside Uttrakhand. This act is divided into four major topics (1) Marriage, (2) Divorce (3) Inherit ance (4) Cohabitation, it consists of Seven Schedules and 392 sections. However this act has not came into for ce.

Fundamental Rights or UCC

If we put a light on Fundamental Rights and Directive Principles of State Policy, we know that Fundamental Ri ghts are enforceable in the court of law whereas Directive Principles are not enforceable in the court, since dire ctive principles are just a directives for the government and are not binding on them, so even if the government fails to perform anything within the purview of directive principles, no action can be brought before the court, n ow the question arise is that, Article 25(1) provides every person freedom of conscience and the right to profess and propagate any religion, and if UCC comes into implementation then it will affect the right to religion of the citizens and Article 37 of the constitution itself states that directive principles “shall not be enforceable by any c ourt”. nevertheless, they are fundamental for the governance of the country. So it can be said that although our c onstitution believes that UCC should be implemented in some manner, but it does not make this implementation necessary, so now another question which arise is that Article 25(1), is a huge hindrance for the implementation of UCC, but this issue has fairly been resolved by the Apex court in various judgement, one of the judgement w hich can be highlighted is the case of State of Bombay vs Narasu Aapu Mali, the apex court clarified that the so cial evils should not be allowed to take refuge in customs. Unreasonable and arbitrary practices like Sati, Dowr y, Child Marriage and Slavery cannot be accorded for the sake of religious freedom also Article 25 is not absolu te and subject to restrictions namely public order, health, morality and other provision of Part III of the constitut ion.
Landmark Cases Related to UCC Shah Bano Case (1985)
This is one of the landmark case relating to UCC, Shah Bano a Muslim women, sought maintenance from her h
usband after being divorced through the Islamic practice of triple talaq, the apex court ruled in her favour and re cognized her right to maintenance under section 125 of Criminal Procedure Code, 1973.

Mary Roy Case (1986)
This case set an important precedent for gender equality in personal laws, in this case a Christian women Mary Roy, challenged the discriminatory provision of the Travancore Christian Succession Act, which favored male h eirs in matters of inheritance, the apex court ruled in favour, holding that gender discrimination inheritance laws violated the constitutional principles of equality.

Danial Latifi Case (2001)
In this case supreme court stated that Muslim women can claim maintenance even beyond the period of Iddat un der Section 125 of Criminal Procedure Code, 1973.

Sarla Mugdal Case (1995) and Lily Thomas Case (2000)
Both these dealt with the practice of bigamy among Hindu men who converted to Islam to marry another wome n without divorcing their first wife, the supreme court held that such conversion for the sole purpose of bigamy were unacceptable and not protected by the freedom to practice religion.

PROCS OF UCC

It will reduce discrimination against Muslim women they can get maintenance after divorce from husband a nd they don’t have to rely on Waqf Board for their survival.

It would enhance supremacy of the constitution over all the personal laws which will ultimately eliminate t hose personal rules which violates rights of an individuals, proper interpretation of personal laws would be possible and if the situation so demands the said personal laws could be amended by the court on the nature of the cases.

It would automatically work as a restriction against the ill practices which are done on the basis of religion like Halala, Polygamy, Polyandry and Iddat.

It would bring our nation under one umbrella and it will help in promoting national unity and integrity.

UCC would address the communal and sectarian conflicts such as Love Jihad and Honour Killings that aris e due to the existence of distinct personal laws.

CONS OF UCC

The biggest cons of UCC is that majority of the people are unaware about it and they often gets misguided b y fake influences

Tribal sections of the society feels that their identity would be permanently abolished with the implementatio n of UCC

Party politics is biggest hindrance for UCC. CONCLUSION
From the above discussion, it can be said that in order to maintain unity and integrity of the nation UCC, is the n eed of an hour, but for this objective to be achieved creating awareness among people is must and communities themselves must take lead in this regard, proper understanding of UCC must be given to the youth because they are the future of the nations and must remain aware about everything and should not be misguided by fake influ ences. That their religion would disappear after the implementation of UCC.

FAQS

What is the boon of UCC?
The UCC would play a leading role in women’s; empowerment and gender equality by eliminating discriminato ry practices and ensuring equal rights. It can help in overcome outdated customs and practices that may be discr iminatory or regressive, fostering a more inclusive and forward thinking society.

Which part of Indian constitution deals with UCC?
Part IV, of the Indian Constitution of India deals with UCC under Article 44.

Name the case laws related to UCC? Shah Bano Case 1985
Mary Roy Case 1986 Danial Latifi Case 2001 Sarla Mugdal Case 1995 Lily thomas Case 2000