The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government at the Centre is going through its election manifesto and delivering either through the help of the court or through legislation. The debate is not heating up on the already promised imposition of Uniform Civil Code (UCC) by the party in its manifesto. The demand for imposition of UCC has now accentuated and even Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) chief Raj Thackeray has joined the chorus for ‘one nation, one law’. While addressing a rally in Pune recently, he reasserted that the nation should follow one set of laws for all its citizens.
Meanwhile, the BJP Uttarakhand government taking the lead has already formed an expert committee headed by a retired Supreme Court judge for implementing UCC and to check all the relevant laws that control personal matters for those living in Uttarakhand. A five-member committee will be headed by retired Supreme Court judge Ranjana Desai, who currently heads the Delimitation Commission of India. Other members of the committee are: retired Delhi High Court Judge Pramod Kohli, social activist Manu Gaur, retired IAS officer Shatrughan Singh, and Doon University Vice-Chancellor Surekha Dangwal. “The Governor has given his permission to establish an expert committee to check all the relevant laws which control personal matters for people living in Uttarakhand, and to prepare a report on amendments in the present laws,” reads the order by the Uttarakhand’s Home Department. This comes at the heels of Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami declaring his intention of implementing the Uniform Civil Code in the state. “We will soon implement UCC, would like other states to follow,” he had said recently. The UCC comes under Article 44 of the Constitution of India. It proposes to introduce personal laws irrespective of religion, gender or caste. It governs personal matters like marriage, divorce, adoption, inheritance, etc.
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At present, personal law is the set of laws that applies to people based on their faith and religion. Most religions have a different set of ‘personal laws’ and are governed by their respective scriptures and guidelines. With the implementation of UCC, there would be a common law for all citizens irrespective of religion, gender or caste. Personal law is often conflicting and contradictory and is not uniformly applied across courts and region.
Early this month, Goa Chief Minister Pramod Sawant in Delhi said that UCC is being followed in Goa and there has not been any communal tension and suggested that his State can be a model for those seeking to implement such a legislation. He was referring to the Goa Common Civil Code, under which all communities, including Hindus, Muslims and Christians, in Goa are governed by the same law when it comes to marriage, divorce, succession, among others. This code is derived from the Portuguese Civil Code of 1867, which was applicable during the Portuguese rule in the state prior to Goa’s liberation in 1961 and Goa continued with this law even after it became a part of India. Currently, Goa in India is the only State in the country to follow a version of the Uniform Civil Code. In March last year while inaugurating the new building of Bombay High Court Goa Bench in Goa the then Chief Justice of India SA Bobde had appreciated the Uniform Civil Code in the State. This in fact sparked the issue and the spotlight was brought back on the UCC debate, although the Law Commission had concluded in 2018 that a UCC is neither desirable nor feasible. No expert committee on the lines of the Hindu Law Reforms Committee of 1941 has ever been constituted, nor has any blueprint for a UCC been prepared so far.
BJP-ruled states such as Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand and Uttar Pradesh have already proposed to implement the UCC calling it as an ideological commitment of the BJP. Also, the Supreme Court in October 2015 said, “This (separate laws for different communities) cannot be accepted. Otherwise, every religion will say that it has a right to decide various issues as a matter of its personal law. We don’t agree with this at all.” The matter however, has ignited a political debate across the country and all opposition parties are engaged in it vociferously. From leader of All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) Asaduddin Owaisi to Rashtriya Janata Dal’s (RJD) Tejaswi Yadav to Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) Sharad Pawar, there is resistance in all political circles including television debates.
A UCC is desirable, but in a peaceful manner so that all citizens of India not only respect it but also allow themselves to be governed under one law. BJP should also ensure that such changes must be brought in with the consensus and willingness of all its citizens so that inter-religious harmony is maintained in this country of over 1.4 billion people.
