Meaning of uniform civil code

Uniform Civil Code is the ongoing point of debate within Indian mandate to replace
personal laws based on the scriptures and customs of each major religious
community in India with a common set of rules governing every citizen. In India the
purpose of Uniform Civil code is to replace the personal laws based on the scriptures
and customs of each major religious community in the country with a common set
governing every citizen.

A uniform civil code will mean a set of common personal laws for all citizens.
Currently, for example, there are different personal laws for Hindus and Muslims.
Personal law covers property, marriage and divorce, inheritance and succession.

Beginning of uniform civil code

The uniform civil code became a flashpoint in Indian politics in 1985 during the Shah
Bano case. The Supreme Court had held that Bano, a Muslim woman, should get
alimony from her ex-spouse. In the context of that judgment the court had said an
uniform.Personal laws were first framed during the British Raj, mainly for Hindu and
Muslim citizens. The British feared opposition from community leaders and refrained
from further interfering within this domestic .

The demand for a uniform civil code was first put forward by women activists in the
beginning of the twentieth century, with the objective of women's rights, equality
and secularism. Till Independence in 1947, a few law reforms were passed to
improve the condition of women, especially Hindu widows. In 1956, the Indian
Parliament passed Hindu Code Bill amidst significant opposition. Though a demand
for a uniform civil code was made by Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru, his supporters
and women activists, they had to finally accept the compromise of it being added to
the Directive Principles because of heavy opposition.

Indian constitution on uniform civil code

The constitution has a provision for Uniform Civil Code in Article 44 as a Directive
Principle of State Policy which states that The State shall endeavor to secure for
the citizens a uniform civil code throughout the territory of India.

There are a number of cases where the Supreme Court has referred to Article 44 and
the concept of uniform civil code, mainly to highlight the lacklustre attitude of the
executive and the legislature in the implementation of the directive.

Article 44 of the Constitution calls upon the State to endeavour towards securing a
uniform civil code throughout the territory of India. It falls within Part IV of the
Constitution titled as Directive Principles of State Policy (DPSP) and understood as
exhortations to the State to be kept in mind while governing the country.

Anti-women practices prevailing in personal laws

Triple Talaq:
The archaic practice of triple talaq is not only anti-women, it is also anti-Islam. It has
already been abrogated in more than 20 countries, including Pakistan and
Bangladesh. A triple talaq divorce is valid even if the husband says talaq three times
on the phone, in a letter or even on WhatsApp.
Halala:
Halala is the way a couple who have been divorced, and wish to reconcile, can
remarry. Women who seek halala services are at risk of being financially exploited,
blackmailed and even sexually abused.This issue came before the Bombay high
court when singer Adnan Sami challenged the validity of his marriage. He married his
wife in 2001, divorced her in 2004 and then remarried her in 2007. Since halala was
not performed by the parties, the family court held the second marriage to be
invalid.

The Bombay high court, however, held that a wife is not obliged to perform halala
before remarrying the same husband if she is divorced by khula or talaq-e-ahsan (the
prescribed mode under the Quran) methods. Halala is mandatory only if the couple
divorced using triple talaq, the court said.

Imagine the plight of a woman who has been divorced by her husband using triple
talaq in a fit of anger or in a drunken state. They both want to be married again. The
wife has two choices she can either marry another man, consummate the marriage
and hope that the second husband also divorces her so that she can remarry her first
husband, or she can marry the first husband without performing halala (against the
tenets of Islam) and lose all her matrimonial rights in the marriage because the
validity of the second marriage will become questionable. She will find no court to
enforce her matrimonial rights because as soon as tries, her husband will claim that
the second marriage between them was void.

Polygamy:
If the wife of a Hindu or a Christian man has the right to bring criminal charges
against her husband for bigamy, why should a Muslim wife be deprived of this right?

An oft-cited argument to justify polygamy is that if a woman is ill or unable to bear

children, her husband can marry another woman to procreate instead of divorcing
her and sending her away.

Age of marriage for women:

In our country, even the age of marriage is not uniform; for a girl, it is 18 and for
boys, it is 21 and this is also not religion-neutral. In Muslims, age of a girl is not
defined. One of our PILs in the Supreme Court is on uniform age of marriage and it
should be 21 common for all.

Milestone Legal Cases

Mohammad Ahmed Khan v. Shah Bano Begum[3] (1975): This was a Case that
stated for the maintenance for the wife after Divorce. Shah Bano a 62-year-old
woman from Madhya Pradesh was divorced by her husband in the year 1978. Hence
Shah Bano filed a Case in Supreme Court under Section 125 of the Criminal
Procedure Code for maintenance. This Section provides to give maintenance to wife,
children, parents who are dependent, and unable to maintain themselves.

Husband gave an irrevocable talaq (divorce) to her which was his prerogative under
Islamic law and took up the defense that since Shah Bano had ceased to be his wife
and therefore he was under no obligation to provide maintenance for her as except
prescribed under the Islamic law which was in total Rs.5400.

The issue was finally taken up by Supreme Court and it decided it in favour of Shah
Bano using secular Criminal Procedure Code regardless of religion. Shah Bano won
the Case and got the Right to get Alimony from her Husband.

Shah Bano's Case was one of the important Judgments in the Muslim Personnel
Law It showed the aspirational and progressive character of Muslim women and
other sections of Muslim society, who were ready to challenge the religious
orthodoxy.

 It brought into focus the plight of the Muslim women, the discrimination they
has to face in matters related to marriage.

 It showed that the laws of the land which are secular in character will take
precedence over the religiously ordained customs and personal laws.

 Most important of all it raised a debate about the rights of women, application
of principle of equality. The debate engulfed civil society, religious groups,
legislature and common man and nothing can be more fruitful in a democracy
than a debate.

The Shah Bano judgment was seen as a blow to Muslim personal law and, under
pressure from the religious orthodoxy, the government was forced to pass the
Muslim Woman (Protection of Rights on Divorce) Act, 1986. The Act specifies that a
reasonable amount of maintenance is to be paid to a divorced wife within the iddat
period by her former husband. The validity of this Act was challenged before the
Supreme Court in Danial Latifi.

Danial Latifi v. Union of India

In the case of Danial Latifi v. Union of India the constitutional validity of Muslim
Women (Right to Protection on Divorce) Act 1986 was challenged by the advocate of
Shah Bano .This is a leading case because, it established for the first time that
Muslim husband is also liable to provide maintenance to his divorced wife beyond
the iddat period and this interpretation balances between the Muslim law and section
125 of Criminal Procedure Code.

It extends for the entire life of the divorced wife until she remarries. Muslim Women
(Right to Protection on Divorce) Act 1986 was challenged on grounds that law was
discriminatory and violation of equality under article 14 of the Constitution of India
as it deprived Muslim women maintenance benefit equivalents to those provided to
other women under section 125 of Criminal Procedure Code. Further, it was argued
that it also violates the right to life guaranteed under article 21 of the Constitution of
India.
It is only due to the decision of the Supreme Court in Danial Latifi that Muslim
women are able to enjoy the fruits of Section 125 of the Criminal Penal Code in the
same manner that Hindu and Christian women do.

Sarla Mudgal v. Union of India[5] (1995):

In this case court held that the second marriage would be invalid until or unless first
marriage dissolves by decree under the Hindu marriage act.
Facts are: The husband converted himself into Muslim religion from Hindu religion
and practiced polygamy. There is no punishment for this act but court in
interpretation of section 494 of Indian Penal Code interpreted that such marriages
are invalid.

Petitioners:
All the petitioners collectively argued that the respondents converted themselves to
Islam to circumvent the provisions of bigamy given under Section 494 IPC and
facilitate their second marriage with other women.

Respondents:
The respondents in all the petitions assert a common contention that once they
convert to Islam, they can have four wives despite having a first wife who continues
to be a Hindu. Thus, they are not subject to the applicability of the Hindu Marriage
Act, 1955 and IPC.

John Vallamattom v. Union of India Case:

The Priest from Kerala, John Vallamatton filed a writ petition in the year 1997 stating
that Section 118 of the Indian Succession Act was discriminatory against the
Christians as it imposes unreasonable restrictions on their donation of property for
the religious or charitable purpose by will. The bench struck down the Section
declaring it to be unconstitutional. Further, stated that;

Article 44 provides that the State shall endeavor to secure for all citizens a Uniform
Civil Code throughout the territory of India. It is a matter of great regrets that Article
44 of the Constitution has not been given effect to. Parliament is still to step in for
framing a common civil code in the country. A Common Civil Code will help the
cause of national integration by removing the contradictions based on ideologies.