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Arguments in favour of UCC<\/u><\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

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Uniformity and reduced discord:<\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/span>\n
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Common Code would <\/span><\/span><\/span>enable uniform civil principles<\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/span> to be applied to the entire Nation.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/li>\n
If and when the whole population will start following the same laws, chances are there that<\/span><\/span><\/span> it would bring more peace to the living and reduce riots.<\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n
Secularism and Women\u2019s Rights:\u00a0<\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/span>\n
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UCC would <\/span><\/span><\/span>help end gender discrimination<\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/span> and<\/span><\/span><\/span> overall discrimination <\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/span>on <\/span><\/span><\/span>religious grounds<\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/span> and <\/span><\/span><\/span>strengthen the secular fabric<\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/span> of the nation.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/li>\n
Therefore UCC could bring all communities together to ensure Women the Right to a dignified life and control over their life as well as body.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n
Ending unjust customs and traditions:\u00a0<\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/span>\n
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A rational common and unified personal law will help <\/span><\/span><\/span>eradicate many evil, unjust and irrational customs<\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/span> and traditions prevalent across the communities.\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n
Ease of Administration:\u00a0<\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/span>\n
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UCC <\/span><\/span><\/span>would make it easy to administer the huge population <\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/span>base of India.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n
Historically, not all communities demanded separate laws:<\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/span>\n
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Few of the Muslim communities like the<\/span><\/span><\/span> Khojas and Cutchi Memons<\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/span> did not want to submit to separate Muslim Personal Law.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n
Global Scenario:<\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/span>\n
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The personal laws of minorities were not recognised in any of the advanced Muslim countries.\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/span>\n
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Eg., <\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/span>in <\/span><\/span><\/span>Turkey and Egypt<\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/span>, no minority in these countries were permitted to have their own personal laws.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/li>\n
Many countries have common civil codes.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
Arguments Against UCC<\/u><\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n
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Hampering diversity and multiculturalism:<\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/span>\n
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Indian society has a unique identity in the form of being diverse and multicultural, and unified law might do away with these unique characteristics of this nation.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n
Violation of fundamental rights:<\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/span>\n
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Religious bodies oppose a uniform civil code on the ground that it would be interference in religious affairs which would violate fundamental rights guaranteed <\/span><\/span><\/span>under Article 25<\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/span> <\/span><\/span><\/span>of the constitution<\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/span>.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n
May lead to communal unrest:\u00a0<\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/span>\n
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It would be <\/span><\/span><\/span>a tyranny to the minority <\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/span>and when implemented could bring a lot of unrest in the country.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/li>\n
The All India Muslim Personal Law Board<\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/span> stated that the laws pertaining to marriage and inheritance were part of religious injunctions for ages.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n
Constitution of the 22nd Law Commission<\/u><\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n
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Head:<\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/span>\n
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The Commission is headed by former Karnataka High Court Chief Justice <\/span><\/span><\/span>Rituraj Awasthi<\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/span>.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n
Function:<\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/span>\n
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The Commission, among other things, shall \u201c<\/span><\/span><\/span>identify laws <\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/span>which are <\/span><\/span><\/span>no longer needed or relevant<\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/span> and<\/span><\/span><\/span> can be immediately repealed<\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/span>; examine the existing laws <\/span><\/span><\/span>in the light of Directive Principles of State Policy<\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/span> and suggest <\/span><\/span><\/span>ways of improvement <\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/span>and <\/span><\/span><\/span>reform <\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/span>and also suggest such legislations as might be necessary to implement the Directive Principles and to <\/span><\/span><\/span>attain the objectives set out in the Preamble of the Constitution<\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/span>\u201d; and \u201cr<\/span><\/span><\/span>evise the Central Acts of general importance<\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/span> so as <\/span><\/span><\/span>to simplify them<\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/span> and<\/span><\/span><\/span> remove anomalies, ambiguities and inequities<\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/span>\u201d.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/li>\n
The Commission is also looking into several significant issues like\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/span>\n
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Implementation of <\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/span>a Uniform Civil Code<\/span><\/span><\/span> (UCC)<\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/span>.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n
Holding of <\/span><\/span><\/span>simultaneous elections<\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/span>.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
Issues and criticisms<\/u><\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n
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Decision of 21st Law Commission:<\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/span>\n
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The 21st Commission had released a consultation paper in 2018 that categorically said <\/span><\/span><\/span>a uniform civil code was \u201cneither necessary nor desirable\u201d at that stage<\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/span>.\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/li>\n
Reasons cited:<\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/span>\n
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In a well-reasoned document, it had then argued that the focus of initiatives to reform the various personal laws should be the<\/span><\/span><\/span> elimination of all forms of discrimination <\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/span>rather than an attempt to bring about uniformity in the laws governing various religions.\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/li>\n
It <\/span><\/span><\/span>emphasised non-discrimination over uniformity.<\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/li>\n
It also recognised that there could be <\/span><\/span><\/span>diverse means of governing aspects of personal law<\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/span> such as <\/span><\/span><\/span>marriage, divorce, inheritance and adoption<\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/span> instead of imposing a single set of rules on society.\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/span>\n
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This, according to the 21st commission, would entail the removal of discriminatory provisions, especially those that affect women, and adoption of some overarching norms rooted in equality.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n
The 22nd Commission:<\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/span>\n
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The 22nd Commission has claimed that years have elapsed since similar views were sought by the previous panel on UCC, and that a <\/span><\/span><\/span>fresh effort was needed<\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/span> to garner varied opinions.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n
Critics:<\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/span>\n
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According to critics, the Law Commission\u2019s decision to solicit views from the public on the idea of a uniform civil code<\/span><\/span><\/span> appears to be a political initiative<\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/span> aimed at bringing the potentially divisive issue under focus.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
Way ahead<\/u><\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n
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It is possible that a uniform code may be adopted without offending any religion, but the concept <\/span><\/span><\/span>evokes fear among sections of the minorities<\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/span> that their religious beliefs, seen as the source of their personal laws, may be undermined.\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/li>\n
What can be done?<\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/span>\n
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Basic reforms can be given priority<\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/span> \u2014 such as having 18 as the marriageable age for all across communities and genders.\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/span>\n
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Introducing a \u2018no-fault\u2019 divorce procedure and allowing dissolution of marriage on the ground of irretrievable breakdown, and having common norms for post-divorce division of assets<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n
Within each community\u2019s laws, it will be desirable to first <\/span><\/span><\/span>incorporate universal principles of equality<\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/span> and<\/span><\/span><\/span> non-discrimination<\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/span> and eliminate practices based on taboos and stereotypes.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
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Daily Mains Question<\/u><\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n
[Q]<\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/span> Analyse the applicability of the Uniform Civil Code(UCC) in India. What are the ways of adopting UCC without offending any religion & evoking fears?\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n
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In Context The Law Commission recently decided to solicit views from the public on the idea of a uniform civil code. About Uniform Civil Code(UCC) What is UCC?\u00a0 The UCC refers to a common set of laws governing personal matters such as marriage, divorce, adoption, inheritance and succession for all citizens, irrespective of religion. Constitutional […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1659,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[22],"tags":[31,30,25],"class_list":["post-1658","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-editorial-analysis","tag-government-policies-interventions","tag-gs-2","tag-gs1"],"acf":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/wp-images.nextias.com\/cdn-cgi\/image\/format=auto\/ca\/uploads\/2023\/07\/4250301Screenshot_2.png","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1658","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1658"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1658\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1659"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1658"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1658"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1658"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}