Uniform Civil Code resonates with one country and one law applicable for all religious communities. The Uniform Civil Code in India is the proposal to supplant existing personal laws and customary practices backed by rigid religious faith with a common set of laws governing every citizen irrespective of their religious background. The idea of Uniform Civil Code had a long history dated from the inception of Indian Constitution as its 44th Article of the Directive Principles of State Policy, which states:
“The State shall endeavor to secure for the citizens a uniform civil code throughout the territory of India.”
It has been a debated topic since when a petition was filed in 2019 to seek framing of UCC for promoting national integration and gender equality. The implementation of the same is a contentious subject due to its impact on the personal laws which are deep rooted in religious faith and practices. The main idea behind the UCC is to create a common set of laws governing marriage, divorce, inheritance and adoption for all the citizens irrespective of their religion. The law thus attempts to eradicate the discriminatory practices of the personal laws that are based on religious scriptures and customs.
UCC AND WOMEN
The rights of the women were curtailed by the intrusion of the personal laws based on religion under the socio-cultural conditions of India. Discrimination against women exists in the field of family law, especially in marriage, inheritance, maintenance and divorce. After India’s Independence, efforts were directed for the framing of the Constitution rather than the personal laws. Many objections were raised by the religious communities against the codification of UCC which was empowered to replace personal laws. Though equality is one of the inevitable provisions under the Constitution, personal laws are said to be contradictory to it. Thus the burden of religious practices and customs upon women remains stagnant.
Marriage and Divorce: Hindu tradition considers marriage as a holy sacrament where the wife is endowed with the duty to take care of her husband. Prior to Hindu Marriage Act 1955, polygamy was frequent and sexual purity was expected from the female counterpart. Discussing the discriminatory provisions of Muslim Personal Law, Triple Talaq is inevitable. Divorcing the wife by pronouncement was highly inequitable and unfair. The presence of Talaq and polygamy under the Muslim law, itself is sufficient to understand the influence of the social and religious norms upon a law and how a law itself can act as an agent of patriarchy. The Christian Personal Law, also like the other laws, are patriarchal in nature, where marriage is considered to be a life-long divine sacrament with less preference to inter-religious marriages. Here, divorce was governed by the Indian Divorce Act, which had biased provision under Section 10 that later got repealed.
Maintenance: Financial security is the very object of providing maintenance to wives. Hindu Adoption and Maintenance Act, 1956 projects a narrow outlook by excluding the financial payments to the wife when remains unchaste or converts to another religion. Muslim law that denies the maintenance beyond the ‘Iddat’ period itself is prejudicial enough to showcase the attitude of the chauvinistic nature of law.
The Indian Constitution has guaranteed equality and freedom to practice any religion, fails to acknowledge it from the path of gender perspective. India, embracing all its diversity, calls itself as a secular nation, should strive to achieve its objective provided under Article 44 of Directive Principles of State Policies and ensure equal treatment of all its citizens. UCC is thus viewed as a solution to ensure gender justice by protecting women from biased provisions to a consistent and secure society.
REFERENCE
Astha Rajvanshi, “New Bill in India Will Govern Unwed Couples Who Live Together”, February 7, 2024, https://time.com
Maheema Rai and Salvin Paul “Women and Uniform Civil Code in India”, Published on September 2020, ResearchGate, https://www.researchgate.net/
Uniform Civil Code (UCC): Positive response towards equality and progress”, Jul 11, 2023, Times of India, https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/