© The Indian Express Pvt Ltd
Tags:
Journalism of Courage
The government’s stance on a uniform civil code (UCC) has evolved from one regime to the next, especially in the last eight years. This was reflected in the recent stand of the Ministry of Law and Justice, which is learnt to have conveyed to a parliamentary committee that review of personal laws — as in Goa where a 155-year-old Portuguese-era law is still in force — can be undertaken when a “sizeable majority” of the population seek amendment of the existing laws or a new law is enacted (The Indian Express, July 31).
The shift in stance can be seen in the government’s written replies in Parliament since 1991. Previous regimes would underline a “consistent policy” — “not to interfere in the personal laws of the minority community”. This later evolved to “wide stakeholder consultation would be required” and then to “committed to honour” the constitutional mandate enshrined in the Article 44 of the Constitution.
From over two dozen occasions in the last 31 years, a look at the government’s replies to questions raised by at least 58 MPs (including half from the BJP; 9 from Congress; 7 from Shiv Sena; 2 each from Trinamool Congress, BJD, CPI, AIADMK and TDP; 1 each from BSP, CPM and IUML; and an independent):
1991-04: ‘No interference’
On July 19, 1991, the late P R Kumaramangalam of the Congress, Law Minister in the P V Narashimha Rao government, said in reply to a question from Shiv Sena’s Ashok Deshmukh: “Introduction of Uniform Civil Code for all citizens will necessarily involve changes in the personal laws of minority communities. The consistent policy of the Government has been not to interfere on its own in the personal laws of the minority communities unless initiative for the change comes from such communities.”
The Atal Bihari Vajpayee-led NDA government followed the same stance. On August 17, 2000, the late Arun Jaitley, then Law Minister, said in reply to a question from his BJP colleague Yogi Adityanath in Lok Sabha: “It has been the consistent policy of the Central Government not to interfere in the personal laws of the minority communities unless the necessary initiative comes from the concerned communities themselves. Hence, it is not possible to lay down any time frame in this regard.”
And on November 29, 2001, to a question from Brijlal Khabri (BSP), Jaitley said: “The policy of the Government is not to effect any changes in these laws unless the initiative therefore comes from those communities.”
The UPA years
This continued in the Manmohan Singh-led UPA government, with the additional stance that initiatives for changes in personal laws of minority communities should come from “a sizeable cross-section” of such communities themselves.
On July 7, 2004, in reply to a question from Shiv Sena’s Chandrakant Bhaurao Khaire, Minister of State K Venkatapathy said, “It has been the consistent policy of the Central Government not to interfere in the Personal Laws of the minority communities unless the necessary initiatives for such changes come from a sizeable cross-section of such community themselves.”
On August 4, 2006, Law Minister H R Bhardwaj reiterated this while replying to a question from Shiv Sena’s Mohan Rawale. And on August 24, 2007, when Adityanath raised a question, MoS Venkatapathy reiterated the “consistent policy of not to interfere” in the personal laws of the minority community.
During UPA-2 (2009-2014), the question of UCC was raised by BJP’s Radha Mohan Singh (April 29, 2010 ) and Murli Manohar Joshi (March 10, 2011). In written replies to both questions, Law Minister Veerappa Moily mentioned the government’s “consistent policy” “not to interfere” in personal laws of the minority communities unless the necessary initiatives for such changes come from “a sizeable cross-section of such communities”.
Modi government, 1st termDuring the Narendra Modi-led NDA government’s first term (2014-19), members asked questions about the UCC on at least 13 occasions, as compared to 2 occasions in the 13th Lok Sabha, 3 in the 14th and 2 in the 15th.
On July 14, 2014, when Adityanath asked whether the government proposes to implement UCC, Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad replied, “Provision of Uniform Civil Code is there in Article 44 in Constitution. Wide stakeholder consultation would be required for further steps in this regard.”
On April 23, 2015, Law Minister D V Sadananda Gowda, replying to a question from Arun Shirole (BJP), referred to Dr B R Ambedkar and the “importance of the subject matter and sensitivity involved”. He said wide “consultation” with stakeholders would be required.
Gowda reiterated the need for a “wider consultation” on December 3, 2015, while replying to a raised by five members of the BJP and Congress — Ranjeet Ranjan, Arjun Meghwal, Dr Shashi Tharoor, Nana Patole and Dr Manoj Rajoria. The Minister said the government had received certain representations from various quarters for bringing in a UCC as envisaged under Article 44.
On March 3, 2016, when Congress MPs K V Thomas and Patole asked if the government had started consultations with stakeholders on UCC, Gowda replied, “In view of the importance of the subject matter and sensitivity involved, wider consultation with stakeholders would be required for taking further steps in this regard and it may not be possible to lay down any rigid time frame in the matter.”
On July 28, 2016, Minister of State on P P Chaudhary too highlighted the need of “in-depth study of the provisions of various personal laws governing different communities”. He was replying to a question raised by five members — Dr Thokchom Meinya, Chandu Lal Sahu, C N Jayadevan, Jayadev Galla and Ch Malla Reddy. In subsequent replies, Chaudhary reiterated the need for an “in-depth study” on four occasions — March 15 and March 29, 2017, and March 28 and April 4, 2018.
Stress on consultations
During its current term since 2019, the government has given written replies on UCC on at least five occasions.
On July 17, 2019, in a reply to a question from Ramapati Ram Tripathi (BJP), then Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said, “In view of the importance of the subject matter and sensitivity involved, and the matter requiring in-depth study of the provisions of various personal laws governing different communities, the Government had requested the 21st Law Commission of India to undertake examination of various issues relating to uniform civil code and to make recommendation thereon”.
When Dushyant Singh (BJP) asked if the government plans to introduce a Bill on UCC, Prasad said on September 16, 2020: “Article 44 of the Constitution of India states that the state shall endeavour to secure for the citizens a Uniform Civil Code throughout the territory of India. The Government is committed to honour this Constitutional mandate. However, this requires wide scale consultations.”
Last week, Law Minister Kiren Rijiju told Lok Sabha that the BJP’s view on UCC should be considered the view of the government. Replying to Janardan Singh Sigriwal (BJP) and Adoor Prakash (Congress) on July 22, Rijiju said in Lok Sabha: “There are some writ petitions pending in the Hon’ble Supreme Court… regarding uniform civil code. Since the matter is sub-judice, no decision on implementation of uniform civil code in the country has been taken as of now.”
