Uniform Civil Code: Lack of clarity on provisions unifies stakeholders

unified IN DIVERSITY: Centre's proposal to enact a Uniform Civil Code has sent many social groups into a tizzy. ADITI PHADNIS speaks to many about their fears

The deadline for consultations and suggestions invited by the Law Commission on the proposed Uniform Civil Code (UCC) comes to an end on July 14. Even as suggestions and objections pour in about a central promise in the Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP’s) election manifesto, those demanding they be kept out of the UCC are as vociferous as those seeking one law that overrides religious personal laws.

Prime Minister (PM) Narendra Modi set off the current debate by making a strong pitch for UCC, saying the Constitution mandates having equal rights for all citizens.

Addressing a gathering of party workers in Bhopal on June 27, PM Modi said: “You tell me, in a home, how can there be one law for one member and another for another member? Will that home be able to function? How will the country be able to function with such a dual system? We have to remember that even in India’s Constitution, there is a mention of equal rights for all.”

“These people (the Opposition) level allegations against us, but the reality is that they chant ‘Musalman, Musalman’. Had they been working in the interests of Muslims, Muslim families would not have been lagging behind in education and jobs,” he added.

The idea

The BJP has said it is committed to uniformity in religious personal law since 1967, when the Jana Sangh (as it was known then) declared in its manifesto that the party would enact a UCC “to govern the laws of marriage, adoption, inheritance, etc for all Indian citizens”.

This promise found no mention in the 1971, 1972 manifestos, or in 1977, the historic election when it came to power at the Centre for the first time as part of a coalition.

The BJP came into existence in 1980, but there was no mention of the UCC in the 1984 or 1989 manifestos. In its 1991 manifesto, the BJP declared: “We will appoint a Law Commission to study various civil laws — ancient, mediaeval, and modern — to evolve a Common Civil Law for the whole country to give our citizens a feeling of unity and brotherhood.”

The phrase ‘Uniform Civil Code’ resurfaced in 1996 when the party promised a UCC “which would be applicable to every community and foster a common Bharatiya identity, apart from ensuring gender equality. Regressive personal laws would cease to have legal validity”.

There was no mention of the UCC in the BJP’s 1998, 1999, 2004, or 2009 manifestos. 2014 saw a reference to the Directive Principles of State Policy (Article 44 of the Constitution that refers to common personal law).

In 2019, in the party manifesto, a UCC was referenced as a step towards gender equity and justice, not as a way to efface personal law based on religion.

The objectors

Many have come forward to record their anxiety and protest, mainly because there is no clarity on exactly what aspects of personal law and which religions the UCC is going to affect.

In a note sent to the Law Commission after its June 27 executive committee meeting, the All India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB) says: “The AIMPLB has always been against UCC. It is of the view that imposing only one law in the name of UCC in a country like India, which consists of people belonging to multiple religions and cultures, is a violation of democratic rights.”

Noshir Homi Dadrawala, chief executive officer, Centre for Advancement of Philanthropy, comments on an aspect of the possible change the UCC might make in the adoption and succession laws and its implications for the Parsi community.

“Adoption is not yet legal among Parsis, and the concept of ‘Palak’ is merely naming the person who would take on the moral and religious responsibility of carrying out after-death religious ceremonies for a person who dies childless. It does not confer any legal rights over property or succession,” he says.

Tribal communities are deeply concerned about the proposed law.

On July 7, Union Home Minister Amit Shah is said to have assured a delegation of Nagaland government officials, led by Chief Minister Neiphiu Rio, that the Centre is actively considering exempting Christians and certain tribal areas from the proposed UCC. This ‘assurance’ is fraught with legal and other difficulties.

Chhattisgarh tribal leader Arvind Netam has been a Union minister and a senior Congress leader but walked out of the party to form his organisation to protect tribal rights. He is aghast at the nonchalance with which the government, as he puts it, is thinking of trampling on tribal traditions.

“Girls from tribal societies cannot inherit their father’s property. The thinking behind this is that girls have the right to marry, divorce, and remarry. They have had this right for centuries. So, the property belongs to the family they marry into. We gave our girls freedom that girls from Hindu society do not have today. In our society, the concept of dowry does not exist for precisely this reason: because girls have the autonomy to choose their life partner. We do not accept the adoption of children from other communities; it can only be from within the ‘kul’. If a UCC is imposed on us, all these practices, which have governed our society for centuries, will vanish,” says Netam.

What all groups want is more time for discussion — and a consensus. Netam says: “If reports that the UCC will be brought as law in the monsoon session of Parliament are true, we will not accept this.”