INTRODUCTION

India is the land of many GODS since time immemorial. If the Indian Society is to be seen,
it is immensely diverse in its very nature. Indian Civilization is one of the oldest and
culturally iconic civilizations the world has ever witnessed and is honoured of being a divine
culture. Indian Culture is defined as Sa Prathama Sanskrati Vishvara that means the first
and the supreme culture in the world.1 Indian Culture has evolved from the principle of
continuity of life and realization of soul as a manifestation of divine impulse.2 Indian
Civilization is one of the oldest and culturally iconic civilizations the world has ever
witnessed and is honoured of being a divine culture. Indian Culture is defined as Sa
Prathama Sanskrati Vishvara that means the first and the supreme culture in the world.3
Indian Culture has evolved from the principle of continuity of life and realization of soul as a
manifestation of divine impulse.4. All these dynasties have left a very deep imprint on the
Indian society and culture. But if the roots of such cultural diversification is to be traced, one
religion that has played a very pivotal role in making India as multi- cultural and multi-
linguistic county is Islam when Mohammed Ghori fought the second Battle of Tarain in 1192
A.D. and defeated Prithvi Raj Chauhan and subsequently established the Islamic rule in India
which flourished till late 16th century.5 Islam has created a very deep impact because before
the entry of Islam in India, there were religions such as Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism but
they all were based on same line as they propagates idol worship whereas Islam on the other
hand is a monosthetic and is totally against idol worship and all the customs and norms of
Islam were entirely different from other religion.

UNIFORM CIVIL CODE

Religion is so deep rooted in the hearts of the people of this country that they still in 21 st
century also, people place their religion on a higher position and their lives are governed by
the their religion and this is the main reason why India has not been able to adopt Uniform
Civil Code till now. Uniform Civil Code (hereinafter referred to as UCC) has been enriched
in Article 44 of the Constitution of India under Part IV i.e. Directive Principle of State Policy
1
Available at, http://www.awgp.org/spiritual_wisdom/indian_culture/what_is_indian_culture, (Last visited on
30/07/2016 at 00:57).
2
Id.
3
Available at, http://www.awgp.org/spiritual_wisdom/indian_culture/what_is_indian_culture, (Last visited on
30/07/2016 at 00:57).
4
Id.
5
Edgar Thorpe & Showick Thorpe, The Person Concise General Knowledge Manual, Pearson India, (1st ed.
2014).
(hereinafter referred to as DPSP) and can be defined as the set of rules governing the matters
related to marriage, adoption, property, inheritance, custody of children etc. irrespective of
their cultural and religious identities because all the above mentioned issues are governed by
the personal laws of different community and there is no uniformity in them. This area has
not been touched upon by law even after 69 years of independence because of the sentiments
of the public at large are attached with their respective customs and belief and this was the
sole reason personal laws are kept away from the uniform laws that are applicable at country
at large. In the Constituent Assembly Debates also it can been that people who spoke against
the implementation of UCC were all men and belonged to Muslim Community and spoke
relentlessly about excluding Muslim Community from being governed by the same set of
laws except one Muslim member of Constituent Assembly from Bihar named Tajmul
Hussain who spoke in favour of implementing same laws throughout India.6 On the opposite
hand there were stalwarts of human rights and equality of women- Minoo Masani, Rajkumari
Amrit Kaur, Hansa Mehta who believed that UCC should be a fundamental right to protect
the rights of women and underprivileged sections of the society.7 After much discussion
about such a debatable issue keeping the sensitivity of the issue in minds and the forcible
atrocities that could have been committed by the general public, the Assembly decide to not
include UCC in Part III of the Constitution and kept it in DPSP where the UCC is not
enforceable. Since then, Art. 44 have been kept in cold storage and no government have
shown any gumption to bring out UCC from the cold storage and break the ice by making it a
fundamental right. Pundit Jawahar Lal Nehru while defending Hindu Code Bill said I dont
think at the present moments the time is ripe in India for me to try to push is through8. There
is always an on-going tussle between Art 25 i.e. Freedom of Conscience and free profession,
practice and propagation of religion9 and between Art. 44 because Art. 25 is a fundamental
right which gives right to the people to practice and propagate their respective religion. The
assailants of UCC always take the defence of Art. 25 stating that freedom to practice and
profess is the fundamental right and making UCC a fundamental right will deprive them of
their fundamental right. In the common parlance, this wrong notion is always taken into
consideration but a closer look at Art. 25 will give clarity about this wrong perceived notion.

6 Leila Seth, A Uniform Civil Code: towards gender justice, India International Centre, Vol. 31, No. 4
(Spring 2005) pp. 40-54.
7
Id.
8Shabeer Ahmed, Uniform Civil Code (Article 44 of the Constitution a dead letter), Indian Political
Science Association, Vol. 67, No. 3 (July- Sept,2006) pp- 547.
9
The Constitution of India.
Art. 25 give an exemption to all the secular activities that are attached with the religious
practices. Hence, it can be said that personal laws relate to secular activities and hence could
fall within the regulatory framework of the State.10 There is always a debate that is going on
for bringing out UCC from the purview of DPSP but nothing substantial have been done by
any of the successive governments till now. There are ill practices that are prevailing in the
personal laws by which the human rights have been grossly violated. Judiciary also while
deciding the cases related to personal laws believes that the it is high time now to bring UCC
into action and have always suggested the Legislature to take some kind of initiative
regarding implementation of UCC. The Supreme Court in the landmark case of Mohd. Ahmed
Khan v. Shah Bano Begum11called article 44 as a dead letter and Justice Y.V Chandrachaud
while pronouncing the judgement reiterated that

It is a matter of regret that Art. 44 of our Constitution has remained a

dead letter It provides that the state shall endeavour to secure uniform
civil code for the citizens throughout the territory of India. There is no
evidence of any official activity for framing a uniform civil code for the
county. There is no evidence of any official activity for framing a uniform
civil code for the country. A belief seems to have gained ground that it is
for the Muslim community to take a lead in the matter of reforms of their
personal law. A common Civil Code which helps the cause of national
integration by removing disparate loyalties to laws which have conflict
ideologies. No community is likely to bell the cat by making gratuitous
concessions on this issue.12

In contemporary times, there is a lot of hue and cry about the implementation of personal
laws and everyone is aware about it. After pointing out the flaws and analysing the present
situation and the need for UCC there are various questions that come in our mind regarding
the implementation of UCC, that are - Why the Legislature has not taken any initiative to
activate UCC even after 69 years of Independence? Is UCC the only solution to curb the
problem of equality? Is India ready for UCC? And will there be a sense of integration if the
UCC come into force?

10
Justice Ruma Pal & Samaraditya Pal, M.P. Jain, Indian Constitutional Law, LexisNexis Buttersworth
Wadhwa Nagpur, (6th ed. 2012), PP-1510.
11
AIR 1985 SC 945, 954.
12
Mohd. Ahmed Khan v. Shah Bano Begum, AIR 1985 SC 945, 954.
 Conclusion

India is probably the only country in the world where there are uncountable communities
and each and every community somewhat have their different customs and traditions. In a
country like India, where religion is still a driving force of the people, the implementation of
UCC becomes very difficult after forecasting the chaos that it would lead to. The authors are
of the view that it is still not the time for India to implement UCC. It should still remain a
Dead Letter as called by the Honble Supreme Court in Shah Banos case. UCC in context
to India is a very idealistic approach that is very soothing and mesmerizing in imagining but
when it comes to practical applicability, it is full of violence and blood-shed. UCC for India
is still a utopian that is impossible to achieve taking into consideration the conditions
prevalent in the country. As discussed earlier, India is a major hub of all the prominent
religions of the world so it becomes very difficult to come up with a law that can govern the
each and every individual irrespective of their religious identity. Every religion preaches
different things and a person belonging to that particular religion believes that his/her
religion is supreme and they should be governed by the customs and tradition when it comes
to personal matters without even thinking rationally. In India when people talk in favour of
UCC, radicals think that it is tool for suppressing minorities instead of genuine social
reforms and this continues harping will make the communities more possessive about their
religion and they ultimately resort to the medium of violence to protect their cultural and
religious identity. There is a sense of maturity that is still lacking among the people and it is
ultimately pulling back from realizing the genuine social reforms that people are trying to
achieve through UCC. Furthermore, the mixing of religion with politics has made the issue
more complicated because the elected members will make sure that this policy should not
get implemented because they also will have to do away with their cultural and religious
rights, but on the same point they keep the issue always burning so as to play their vote bank
politics.

If Uniform Civil Code comes into force, then instead of integrating the nation in one, it will
divide a nation into several parts which will ultimately lead to the situation of civil war in
the country and there might be a complete breakdown of the constitutional machinery in the
country. This can only be done by the mutual consensus of all the people by way of
referendum but for that people have to think rationally and realize that there are certain
practices in their respective religion which are fundamentally wrong. This can only be done
by acquiring proper education because then only one starts to think rationally and starts
questioning certain things. The state should be focused on providing proper education
because by education only self-introspection or self-realization is possible. After that only
the proper implementation of UCC is possible where the rights of women and
underprivileged sections of the society are protected. The state can also arrange periodic
opinions polls on the issue of UCC and can get the exact situation regarding the policy.

The authors are of the view that implementation of UCC is not feasible for India in the
because of the issues discussed earlier so as to prevent the greater cause, the personal laws
of respective religion should be kept intact.