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What is the Uniform Civil Code and Why do we need it

Being a part of the constitution since its inception, Article 44, the Uniform Civil Code has been laying dead in the water. Not being implemented nation wide, the article has merely been dormant and intellectuals and even the judges of the Supreme Court and High Courts, on various occasions have mentioned their unhappiness about it. So what exactly is the uniform civil code and why isn't the same implemented yet?



picture credit : Lego Desk


The Uniform Civil Code (UCC), is a set of laws which would be applicable to all citizens irrespective of their religion in matters of marriage, divorce, inheritance and adoption. In the present scenario, the said matters are controlled by the various personal laws which are named and based on religions. These personal laws are sometimes contradictory to the general laws in effect and in situations of such conflicts of law, it is the personal law that would remain prevalent over the general law. Unfortunately, these personal laws are discriminatory in nature and have different laws for different people solely based on their religion. Most provisions of these personal laws are discriminatory against women and some of these even violate the provisions of the Prohibition of the Child Marriage Act and the Transfer of Property Act and other general acts.

The UCC provides to eliminate all such disparities in the law system due to the existence of such personal laws based on religion. The UCC aims to provide protection to the vulnerable section of the society, including women and religious minorities while it promotes a nationalistic fervor through unity. As of now, the personal laws are extremely complex and such complexities in law will create delays for the courts to reach a verdict. In the 1985 judgement of the Shah Bano case, the supreme court has dealt with the issue of the UCC in several parts of the judgement. Similarly, there are many other situations where the judges have made both explicit and subtle references in the favor of UCC. 

Goa remains to the only state in India that has implemented the UCC. It was introduced in 1879 as Goa Family Law by the Portuguese but after the liberation of Goa, it was retained and is now known as the Special Marriage Act. This act punishes polygamy (having more than one wife at a time) and provides for a civil marriage between two people of the opposite sex irrespective of their religions. This act also treats both the husband and wife equally in the divorce stages. The provisions are much simpler and hence would result in quicker justice.

What is common in almost all the existing personal laws are the discriminatory factors against women. Hence it is important to cut out completely from such discriminatory and illogical provisions followed by different people just because of the mere fact that they follow a particular religion. Such discriminations can mainly be seen in areas of inheritance and marriage. For example, the Mohammedan law considers age of puberty as the eligible age for marriage when its generally 18 for women.

However, there is one section of people who are kept in the shadows even in the special marriage act of Goa. The people of the LGBTQI+ community. Even the special marriage act excludes same sex marriage and that is something which must be considered if the UCC will be implemented nation wide. In the recent turn of events, the Delhi High Court observed that modern India needs a Uniform Civil Code and it cannot remain a mere hope so that the youth belonging to various communities would not have to struggle with the issues arising due to the conflicting personal laws.

A codified act like the UCC will strengthen unity and equality in law by providing protection to the parties against any unregulated practices which are being implemented even in this day and age. The existing personal laws are to be scrapped and its high time the same needs to be done. The necessary steps needs to be taken for the successful enactment of this code. It is time to identify oneself as Indians firstly and lastly. The identity of religion must be only secondary in nature and to implement that, such contradicting personal laws which are permitting illogical practices for different people in the same country must be repealed. The same hasn't been implemented yet as the people have been blinded by faith and are not able to see the wrongs that has gone unchecked through these personal laws. As long we keep mixing up faith within laws, the country's pace towards progress gets tampered and the struggle for justice becomes longer.

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