What is Uniform Civil Code?

   The Uniform civil code is a proposal in India to formulate and implement secular personal laws of citizens which apply to all citizens equally regardless of their religion. Currently, BJP is trying to implement the UCC, So, Let’s take a view of its History. Currently, Goa is the only state in India with UCC.


Source - Legal and Childhood Dreams 

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   It was all started when the British tried to impose western ideologies on India by reforming local, Social, and Religious customs. The Lex Loci Report of October 1840 drew attention to the importance and necessity of uniformity in the codification of the Indian Law but it was suggested that personal laws of Hindus and Muslims should be kept outside such codification. The British were so smart that they had a very strong intention of keeping Hindus and Muslims busy in conflicts of religion so that they could rule over India through a divide and rule policy. The British had obtained an easy way to break the unity of both religions. According to their understanding of religious divisions in India, the British separated the laws which would be governed by religious scriptures and customs of the different communities. These laws were applied by the local courts and panchayats when cases involved civil disputes between people of the same religion. The State would only operate in exceptional cases.

   There was a wide range of alternatives for scriptural rules in the country, which led to conflict(between Hindus and Muslims). Hindu laws were given precedence over other options due to their simplicity of implementation and also preference for such a Brahminical system (as the British had fear of opposition from high caste Hindus). It was very difficult to investigate every practice of any community and also harder to implement customary laws.

(Personal Law - Personal law is a law that applies to a certain class or group of people or a particular person, based on religion, faith, and culture.­)

Source - ThePrint

   The Sharia Law (Muslims Personal Law) was followed in different parts of India but with no uniformity, as the Muslims had diversity in local cultures as some communities were converted to Islam. This resulted in customary law, which was often more discriminatory against women. The women were restrained from property inheritance and dowry settlements. Even though sharia law had discriminatory parts, it was passed in 1937, stating that " All Indian Muslims would be governed by Islamic laws on marriage, divorce, maintenance, adoption, succession, and inheritance."

   The Sharia law allows Polygamy (The practice of marrying multiple Spouses), due to this, the condition of Muslim women and daughters was poor. By enacting reforms through legislative processes, the British and social reformers like Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar were essential in making such practices illegal. Only the Indian Succession Act 1865, which was also one of the first laws to safeguard women's economic security, attempted to shift personal laws to the sphere of civil law because the British feared opposition from traditional community leaders.

   All India Women’s Conference (AIWC) expressed its disappointment to the biased male-dominated legislature as the British government scare offed passing such reforms which could have helped women. Lakshmi Menon said in AIWC conference in 1933  "If we are to seek divorce in court, we are to state that we are not Hindus, and are not guided by Hindu law. The members in the Legislative assembly who are men will not help us in bringing any drastic changes which will be of benefit to us." The AIWC conference demanded a Uniform Civil Code to replace the existing personal laws, basing it on the Karachi Congress resolution which guaranteed gender equality.

   The Deshmukh Bill which was also known as Hindu Women’s Right to Property Act, 1937 led to the formation of the committee named B.N. Rau committee, whose task was to submit their report containing the information on the necessity of common Hindu Laws and committee also suggested that it was a time of a Uniform Civil Code, which would give equal rights to the women but their focus was primarily on reforming the Hindu Law. The Committee suggested a civil code of marriage and succession after reviewing the 1937 Act

   In 1872, the Special Marriage Act was introduced which gave the option of civil marriage to Indian Citizens. After Amendment in this Act in 1923, it allowed Hindus, Buddhists, Sikhs, and Jains to marry either under their Personal Law or they can marry under the Act without altering their religion.

Source - Wikipedia

   The Jawaharlal Nehru, his supporters, and Women members of the party wished a UCC to be implemented. B.R. Ambedkar was the Law Minister at the time of this bill, he was in charge of presenting the details of the bill. Ambedkar also recommended the implementation of a UCC but his anger (dislike) for upper-caste Hindu made him unpopular in the Parliament. According to him, UCC was the opportunity to reform Hindu society and also to ensure the protection of Muslim women’s Rights. Although he faced criticism, he later got the support of Nehru, but still, UCC was not Implemented, and to divert that Hindu bill was introduced to ensure modern reformation of Hindu Society. Hindu bill also had to face criticism and opposition. Thus, the Parliament introduced the reduced version of this bill in 1956 in four parts:- 

a) Hindu Marriage Act,

b) Succession Act,

c) Minority and Guardianship Act,

d) Adoptions and Maintenance Act.

   This bill had been supported by Nehru as he was in a contraction of not implementing the UCC in Article 44 of the Directive Principles of the Constitution. For those who don’t know, the Directive Principle of the constitution (of State policy of India) are the guidelines given to the institutions for governing the state of India which states, "The State shall endeavor to secure for citizens a uniform civil code throughout the territory of India." The diluted Hindu bill had to face the anger of Active women members like Rajkumari Amrit Kaur and Hansa Mehta. Paula Benerjee expressed her anger in words,  "failure of the Indian state to provide a uniform civil code, consistent with its democratic secular and socialist declarations, further illustrates the modern state's accommodation of the traditional interests of a patriarchal society".

   The Hindu code bill failed against discrimination. Since the major part of its implementation was initiated by men and the Act was applicable to only Hindus other communities were still under their Personal Laws. Nehru himself accepted the fact that the bill was not complete. Nehru had fear of specific community’s anger.

   The Special Marriage Act, 1954 provides the citizens a form of civil marriage irrespective of religion and allows them to marry outside of any religion’s personal law. This Law was very much similar to the Hindu Marriage Act of 1955. The Special Marriage Act permitted Muslims to marry under it and retain the protections that could not be obtained under personal law, which were mainly beneficial to Muslim women. Polygamy was made illegal through this Law and inheritance and succession were handled by the Indian Succession Act rather than the Muslim Personal Law. Divorce would likewise be handled by secular law, and a divorced wife would be supported according to civil law guidelines. As a result, the Special Marriage Act provides religious minorities with important protections not present in their religion's personal law, such as the Muslim Personal Law. The Special Marriage Act, on the other hand, is insufficient in protecting minorities more broadly in Indian society, demanding the adoption of a Uniform Civil Code.

Source - Tatva media

   The conflicts between secular and religious authorities were decreased over UCC until Shah Bano Case – 1985. Bano was 73 years old woman who was divorced after 40 years of marriage by Triple Talak and denied regular maintenance. Bano got justice from the local court but Khan (his Husband) who himself was a lawyer challenged this decision and the case went into the hand of the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court supported Bano in 1985 under the “Maintenance of Wives, Children, and Parents” provision of the All India Criminal Code which applied to all citizens irrespective of their Personal religious law. The Shah Bano affair quickly became a national political issue and a controversial discussion. The decision of the Supreme Court was supported by Liberal and progressive Indians and Muslim women while the All India Muslim Board defended the Sharia Law and denied giving rights to Alimony to women. The orthodox Muslims believed that if their personal laws were ruled by the judiciary, their communal identity would be endangered. The Congress government of Rajiv Gandhi, which had received previously support from Muslim minorities, lost local elections in December 1985 as a result of its support for the Supreme Court's judgement. The Muslim board members, including Khan, have launched a push for complete autonomy in their personal laws. By consulting legislators, ministers, and journalists, it quickly reached a national level. The media played a significant part in making this incident more newsworthy. The Muslim women bill, 1986  formed by the Independent Muslim Parliament in which Protection of Rights of Divorce was mentioned. The aim of the bill was to replace section 125 of the criminal procedure code to make it inapplicable to Muslim Women (Indirectly reversing the Supreme Court’s Decision). According to the Muslim Women bill, Muslim males are only required to pay alimony for a period of 90 days, especially if they have requested a divorce. In 1986, the Muslim Women's (Protection of Rights on Divorce) Act was passed, making Section 125 of the Criminal Procedure Code ineffective for Muslim women. In Indian society, this was a massive defeat for liberal movements and women's rights. All this came to reality after the Indian National Congress supported the bill. Later in 1987, the minister of Social Welfare, Rajendra Kumari Bajpai revealed that no women were given maintenance by Wakf Board in 1986. Women activists highlighted their legal status and according to them, "the main problem is that there are many laws but women are dominated not by secular laws, not by uniform civil laws, but by religious laws."

Source - Cartoonist Satish Acharya


Note :- No personal Views/Thoughts are added in this post

 

Source - Wikipedia, Tatva, Social Media etc