Unified Civil Code

India’s uniqueness is its unity in diversity. Bharath is an emotion which strings together various blossoms of culture, creed and concepts. Even as the culture, customs, traditions, rites, rituals and creeds vary the law of the land (civil, criminal, laws on motor vehicles and the like) is the same for all, the way it should be. But when it comes to laws pertaining to personal issues, it varies from person to person according to his or her faith and creed. For a country which rightly claims to the world’s largest democracy, this is far from being desirable. Even after celebrating the platinum jubilee of freedom this enigma continues meting out a sense of inequality, gender based discrimination and lack of freedom to people from different faith and creed. This is in more of a blemish than an embellishment for a progressive and modern society. The apex court had observed on several occasions that the only way to settle many such disputes is to resort to a unified civil code. But intimidated the vote banks, every party which wielded power in these 75 years of freedom and independence turned a deaf ear to such suggestions. It is hopeful that the present government lead by Narendra Modi has taken an step in this direction.

The Delhi High Court has extended its support for this move. Moreover, it has requested the government to formulate and implement such law. The honourable court has observed that the Indian society has moved farther and further into homogeneity and that as caste and religion are losing their hold on people, a uniform civil code is the need of the hours to add significance and vitality to such movements. Modern man should follow the laws of the land as made mandatory by the constitution and not the obsolete dictates of the age old religions. Religion is a personal space in a society. But personal freedom and rights offered by the same society should not be taken away by religions. What is meant by a uniform civil code is to have a single law for the citizen, no matter what their faith is. When this is implemented it will be suffice to have the same regulation for marriage, divorce, inheritance and adoption irrespective of religions.

The Hindu Marriage Act, the Hindu Succession Act, The Christian Marriage Act and the Parsi Marriage and Divorce Act are some of them. The objective of the 44th article of the constitution is the protection of the exploited minorities and the fostering of our diversity in culture. Furthermore, even during the imperial rule, there had been a strong exhortation to formulate such laws.

It is not the same law for different religions and the castes in them. For marriage, divorce inheritance and succession, we have different laws for different citizens based on their creed and faith. This is totally inappropriate.

For different religions the right to inherited property varies for the father, mother, siblings, first wife, second wife, children from the first wife, in-laws and grand children from the first wife, the kith and kin of the second wife. The Indian Penal Code cannot and does not harmonize the same way with different religions, their beliefs. Even though the same criminal laws apply the same way for all, no government has yet had the guts to institute a unified civil code across the religious diversity. Meanwhile the religions and their factions are demanding that even the criminal laws should be diversified to cater to religious interests. The laws pertaining to personal matters and family laws are complex and diverse since they have been formulated to satisfy the dictates of different religions.

The personal and family laws formulated and implemented in India for Hindus, Christians and Muslims regarding birth, marriage and death are complementary to their religious views and outlook. The only exception is Goa which follows the Portuguese Unified Civil Code. It is the same law, both civil and criminal, for all irrespective of their creed and faith. Since there are no uniform family laws in the rest of India, the life of a citizen is ruled and governed by diversified laws which are only extensions of the religious laws. In other words, the religion has a stronger hold on a citizen’s life than the state itself. This is totally against the constitution’s preamble which upholds secularism as a value. Besides, eve the religious laws themselves are diverse within each religion with regard to factions and castes. Since this is all too complex, family courts which cater to the religious differences had to be founded to solve the disputes in and around families. In matters of succession, inheritance and titles, the laws are only bye-laws of the religious laws.

Most of the laws in the IPC follow the British Common Law system and this relation is an after effect of the long years of the British colonialism in India. The laws instituted long after Independence are influenced more by the European and the American laws. The Indian Constitution is partly an integration of the IPC, and the legal systems of Ireland, America, Britain and France. The ecological and human right laws which are more modern are influenced by the UN and its views and outlook on such matters. In the Indian Intellectual Property Laws too the influence of international laws is obvious.

In a country which has such a comprehensive legal system, to follow the draconian laws of primitive tribes in matters of personal legality impedes the evolution of a progressive society. As a uniform civil code is on the anvil, one law for all, a long cherished dream of every progressive Indian is about to materialize. If this happens, then the future generation will extol such a ruler as the harbinger of equality.