‘UCC Must for Gender Equality’: Delhi HC Issues Notice on Muslim Man’s Plea Seeking Drafting of Code

The Delhi High Court (HC) on Monday issued notice on a plea seeking direction for drafting of a Uniform Civil Code, stating that ‘One Nation – One Civil Law’ is a basic dictum of any socialist secular democratic republic like India, and that gender justice, gender equality and dignity of women, an integral part of Articles 14, 15 & 21, cannot be secured without a UCC.

A bench of Chief Justice Satish Chandra Sharma and Justice Subramonium Prasad issued a notice and tagged the matter along with similar pending petitions.

Advocate Ashwini Upadhyay appearing for the petitioner informed the bench that this petition has been filed for the drafting of a Uniform Civil Code, and “fortunately the Law Commission is also there”.

The plea has been moved by a Muslim man named Danish Eqbal seeking the implementation of a UCC. Eqbal stated that uniformity in the age of marriage, grounds of divorce, maintenance and alimony, succession, adoption, etc. are essential for gender equality and pressed that implementation of a Uniform Code in the spirit of Article 44 is in fact essential for the achievement of these ends.

Pointing out that polygamy is an offence under Section 494 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), Eqbal said there are many instances where people convert to seek the pleasure of multiple marriages. “Even though even in Islamic countries like Pakistan and Turkey, the consent of the wife is essential,” he added.

Eqbal also said that “Muslim parents can marry their teenage daughters because the minimum age of marriage is not defined as puberty”, “although WHO says that pregnancy before 20 years is the root cause of many diseases and injurious.”

On the inequality in the practice of talaq, Eqbal stated that even though “instant Triple Talaq is now void and unconstitutional, other forms of oral talaq viz. Talaq-e-Hasan and Talaq-e-Ahasan still prevail. Therefore, women are always under pressure and fear.”

Eqbal stated that Muslim women are deprived of the benefits of the Stree Dhan, as in Muslim personal law there is no such concept, and “whatever articles she brings with herself during the marriage are also enjoyed by the husband after divorce.”

Making a case for the Uniform Civil Code, Eqbal said it will truly ensure gender equality and “control fissiparous tendencies and promote fraternity, unity and national integration”.

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