ONE NATION ONE LAW: THE UCC CONTROVERSY

 ONE NATION, ONE LAW: THE UCC CONTROVERSY

INTRODUCTION

On 28th March 2021, India woke up with the news of CJI Bobde inaugurating the new high court in Porvorim,

Goa. He said, “I've had the great privilege of administering justice under Uniform Civil Code. It applies in

marriage and succession, governing all Goans irrespective of religious affiliations. I have heard a lot of

academics talk about the uniform civil code. I would request all those intellectuals to simply come here and

watch the administration of justice to know what it turns out to be.”

UCC: BRINGING ABOUT A SOCIAL REVOLUTION

1. Through Media

There is a huge disparity between “what is” and “what is shown” to the public. Repeatedly, media has chosen to

demonstrate that they will side with the majority community or support the anti-minority statements. It has also

made a mockery out of the entire women’s right movement, treating it as a secondary topic or whenever

feasible.

Historically, it was the Hindus who practiced sati, banned widow remarriage, and promoted child marriage. In

fact, it was practiced unlawfully even after the British banned it. However, the shift of “religious backwardness”

was made towards the Muslim community by the media when Hindu Personal laws was codified in mid 1950s.

Cut to 1985, in the landmark judgment of Shah Bano, while the court granted a divorced woman the right to be

maintained by her divorced husband, it also made some anti-minority statement by framing the Muslim

Community. In the first instance, the media wrote enthusiastically supporting the biased Supreme Court

judgment without pointing out the flaws. In the latter instance, the media till date, continues to show the

community as barbaric and the opposite of anything modern. Even if there is some grain of truth in it, it can be

curated in a better way.

2. As a Feminist Movement

The feminist movements might have different routes of travelling the road of gender justice. However, they all

believe the destination is equality. Every personal law, be it Hindu, Muslim, Christian or Parsi has some law

which screams biasedness and treats women as a second priority. Mostly because these laws were framed by

patriarchal and misogynistic men ages ago. Hence, the goal is to “bring about a change” and give what women

deserve.

The question that stands still is whether the future reforms would be gender just or just another attempt to

silence the voices of the outraged feminists? In the past, when Hindu Law was reformed, there was this

conclusion that the move was taken to win control over the Hindus, before which they were dominated by

religious leaders or heads. Not only that but also to bring Buddhism, Jainism, Sikhism etc under the same fold

and control them. Thus, it became very political in nature.

3. As a Religious Movement

Uniform civil Code was and never will be opposing “secularism” or violating Article 25 or 26 of the

Constitution, however, the contrary is held by the popular belief. In fact, UCC is established on the theory that

there is no concrete connection between religion and personal law. Matters like marriage, property and other

analogous matters has a secular nature and hence, it can be regulated. It does not intend to violate anyone’s

religious belief or hurt anyone’s sentiments. It simply means that a Hindu will never be obligated to perform

Nikah, and no individual can ask a Muslim to perform saptapadi.

UCC: ROLE OF JUDICIARY

In the past, Supreme Court has bought UCC in its obiter dicta, even in cases which did not deal with it. It kept

reminding the legislature, the role they had to play of enforcing the Article 44 of DPSP. However, it is often

noticed that court’s effort towards UCC has been rhetoric in nature. It has never declared the code

unconstitutional in any of the cases, neither has it analysed the article properly in specific cases. “Indira Jaising

speaks of a ‘hands-off approach’ of the judiciary when it comes to the personal laws. The court indeed refers to

article 44, but at the same time draws a clear line between its own function and the tasks of the legislator or the

government (which collectively are often referred to as "the state")”.The cases examined below will show that

even though the court wants to enforce Art. 44 of the constitution, there seems to be reluctance in doing so.

In the case of Keshavananda Bharati, the court was of the opinion that the government ought to take essential

steps for the enforcement of UCC in the “interest of integrity and unity of the nation.” However, simultaneously

it also exclaimed that it cannot cross the line and pressurise the government into taking any such move. In the

case of National Textile Workers v. P.R. Ramkrishnan and Others, a similar move was taken by the court where

they felt that UCC along with other DPSP’s should be enforced by either the executive or the legislature. The

court stated that if the nation wants a social change, then the only solution is to request the state to do its job by

acting in the best interest of our community. Evidently, the voice of the court was hesitant since the court did

not go beyond “recommending” the government essential actions.

CONCLUSION

There seems to be a need for secular law but also to act in the interest of the religious minorities. Thus,

implementing Article 44 is not the right step for India. Interestingly, the concept of an optional UCC was

introduced16 where the UCC will be implemented but at the same time leaves personal law in place,

recognizing religious identities. This might work for our country because Article 44 would go hand in hand with

the personal law reforms, given, how desperately there is a need for transformation. Some also went on to call it

“optional-gender just civil code” because it will elaborate on topics like sexual violence of women, their

economic rights, the discriminating marital laws, and inequality faces as a consequence. It is fascinating to note

that a demo model was drafted by the Forum against the Oppression of Women, however, many were critical

towards it, stating it would still not benefit majority of the women.

Historically, it seems that the country never took a step into the starting point, expecting others to push them

into it. Even the judiciary had a trembling hand while laying it on this DPSP. However, as the time elapsed,

each community has started craving for a revolution within their society, perhaps a reform in personal laws.

Hence, if one looks carefully, the slow and steady strategy of reforms might make the personal laws a little alike

each other. This gives us a hope that one day the “mirror image” of UCC will be crafted without even

implementing it.