Opinion Uniform Civil Code: No bad time for a good law

The Opposition's criticism stems from the fact that BJP intends to fulfil vision of our Constitution makers and bring dignity to the citizen. The sooner it happens, the better

July 7, 2023 11:14 AM IST First published on: Jul 7, 2023 at 07:08 AM IST

I am well placed to write about the Uniform Civil Code. In my immediate family, we have gone through the process of a variety of marriages and related issues. I am a Roman Syrian Catholic, a community which dates its history back to 52 AD when St Thomas converted six Brahmin families in Kerala; my wife is a Syrian Orthodox Christian and her mother is a Jacobite Syrian Christian. My elder son is married to a Tamil Brahmin. My younger son is married to a white American Catholic. My eldest sister was married to a Bengali Brahma Samaji from Kolkata. Another sister was married to a German Protestant.

I have read a lot about the UCC over the past week, mostly from Opposition leaders. The crux of their argument is: “ Why the uniform Civil Code now?” My counter question is: Why not now? In fact, along with the adoption of the Constitution and the national flag, the first thing we should have attempted was the enactment of a common civil code covering marriage, divorce, inheritance, and adoption for the whole nation. This is what most nations did when they became independent. A common law unites people. It would ensure equality before the law for all Indians, as promised in Article 14 of the Constitution. It eliminates discrimination. It renders gender justice, which is generally denied to them in marriage, divorce, inheritance and adoption laws. It reduces complexities, contradictions and legal ambiguities.

Questions are being asked: Why now since the general elections are less than a year away? Why didn’t you do it during the last nine years? This government has done incredible work in terms of legislation and delivering things on the ground. In India, there is an election almost every month. If the Union government and Parliament have to be in limbo due to elections, nothing would get legislated. Therefore, any time is a good time and it would be hugely a betrayal of the mandate if something as crucial as common civil law is not enacted. We were far too late in doing so and the time is now.

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It is strongly argued that we cannot have a common personal law as there are thousands of rituals and practices across the country and it would be a violation of the rights envisaged in Articles 25 and 26 and the Sixth Schedule of the Constitution if the Uniform Civil Code was enacted. This is far from the truth. There was massive opposition to the enactment of the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955, the Hindu Succession Act, Minority, Guardianship, Adoption and Maintenance Acts of 1956. Still, the government of the time showed exceptional courage. But why has Congress developed cold feet on the common civil code? The party must have become scared of the communal forces, like what happened during the Shah Bano case in 1984 — this eventually destroyed a very charming Prime Minister, Rajiv Gandhi.

Apart from the timing for the enactment of UCC, the other major objection is that it would destroy the essential fabric of India, which is a mosaic of 22 official languages, 398 dialects, and 645 tribes. As usual, the allegation is that the government is out to implement an RSS agenda of uniform culture for the entire country. This is far from the truth. The RSS chief has categorically said that India can exist only in diversity: “Respect everyone’s faith and rituals. Accept everyone and walk on your own way.”

Also Read | Constitution mandates uniform civil code, religious diktats can’t overrule it

The UCC will accept the best of all Indian traditions and come out with a simple code that is transparent and easy to administer. In some sense, the Hindu Marriage Act of 1955 points to the way it can be done. Section 7 of the Act under the heading ‘Ceremonies for a Hindu Marriage’, states: “A Hindu marriage may be solemnised in accordance with the customary rites and ceremonies of either party thereto.” This principle could be applied to marriages in all communities. There are hundreds of unique rituals and ceremonies across India; all of them will continue the way they are.

There will be give and take by all communities in the process of formulating a UCC. Other factors that must find a place in the common civil code are: Process of registration of marriages, abrogation of polygamous rights, a transparent system of divorce which upholds the dignity of women, a right to maintenance and alimony to the spouse and children in case of separation and divorce, a civil process for divorce, a right to remarry, an equal right to inheritance for all children in parental property, whether inherited or self-acquired, right to adoption and rights of adopted children being the same as biological children.

The Communist Party of India had the Uniform Civil Code as an agenda in its manifesto till 1990. When Atal Bihari Vajpayee sounded the idea as PM, they began to oppose it. The framers of the Constitution, including Nehru and Ambedkar, strongly supported UCC — otherwise it would not be there in Article 44.

The Opposition’s criticism stems from the fact that the BJP intends to fulfil the vision of our Constitution makers and bring dignity to the citizen. The sooner it happens the better.

The writer, a former Union minister, belongs to the 1979 batch of the IAS

# Uniform Civil Code