Uniform Civil Code in U'khand to be a Reality | Know What Constitution Says, Its History & Relevance

Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami on Thursday said that the cabinet – which met for the first time since the new government was formed – has decided to implement the Uniform Civil Code (UCC) in the state. “We have decided to implement the Uniform Civil Code in the state. The state cabinet unanimously approved that a committee (of experts) will be constituted at the earliest and it will be implemented in the state. This will be the first state to do so,” said Dhami after the meeting.

Implementation of the UCC was one of Dhami’s biggest poll promises, which he said, will “be a significant step towards fulfilling the dreams of India’s Constitution makers and will realise the spirit of the Constitution”. He had also said: “The UCC will boost equal rights for everyone in the state. It’ll enhance social harmony, boost gender justice, strengthen women empowerment and help protect the extraordinary cultural-spiritual identity and environment of the state.”

The UCC promise was brought again to the spotlight by the BJP soon after the Hijab row in Karnataka. The Uniform Civil Code for India is one of the political articles of faith for the BJP and was part of its 2019 Lok Sabha election manifesto.

WHAT IS UNIFORM CIVIL CODE?

Matters like marriage, inheritance, adoption, succession, etc. are governed in India according to the personal laws of the various religious communities. That is, Hindus have their own marriage laws and Muslim marriages are governed by the community’s personal laws. The same is the case with Parsi and Christians who, too, have separate personal laws governing these matters.

But separate laws for the different communities has for long been seen as contributing to legal and administrative complexities and, as the Delhi HC noted, creates grounds for “issues arising due to conflicts in various personal laws”.

The founding fathers of the Indian republic had anticipated these issues and, although they did not do away with the different personal laws that had been introduced by the British when they codified laws for India, they inserted an article in the chapter on Directive Principles of State Policy that makes up Part IV of the Constitution of India.

Article 44 says that the “State shall endeavour to secure for the citizens a uniform civil code throughout the territory of India”. However, its presence in the said section means that Article 44 is not mandatory and it is up to the Parliament to make a law to bring in UCC. That is because Article 37 says that the “provisions contained in this Part (Part IV) shall not be enforceable by any court… and it shall be the duty of the State to apply these principles in making laws”.

However, though not enforceable such as they are, the directive principles are to be deemed as being “fundamental in the governance of the country”.

Dr BR Ambedkar, the first Law Minister of India, hence, held that while UCC was desirable, its application should be put off till a more suitable time.

‘Neither necessary nor desirable’

More recently, however, the Law Commission in a 2018 report observed that a UCC “is neither necessary nor desirable at this stage” for India. The reason it cited was that a diverse country like India has to have separate laws to respect the needs of all its people and bringing uniformity would actually serve to complicate matters more than simplify them.

“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,” it had said.

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