What is UCC?

 What is UCC?

In topics like as marriage, divorce, inheritance, and adoption, the Uniform Civil Code (UCC) argues for the creation of a single law for India that would apply to all religious sects.

The law is based on Article 44 of the Constitution, which states that the state must work to ensure that citizens throughout India have access to a uniform civil code.

Background of Uniform Civil Code

The UCC has its origins in colonial India, when the British government issued a report in 1835 emphasising the need for uniformity in the codification of Indian law relating to crimes, evidence, and contracts, and specifically recommending that personal laws of Hindus and Muslims be left out of such codification.

In 1941, the government formed the B N Rau Committee to codify Hindu law due to an increase in laws dealing with personal concerns at the end of British rule.

Following these suggestions, the Hindu Succession Act was passed in 1956, amending and codifying the legislation pertaining to intestate or unwilled succession among Hindus, Buddhists, Jains, and Sikhs.

There were, however, different personal laws for Muslims, Christians, and Parsis.

The courts have frequently said in their rulings that the government should work toward a unified civil code in order to achieve uniformity.

The Shah Bano decision is well-known, but the courts have reached the same argument in a number of other key decisions.

The Centre has raised the question of whether religious traditions such as triple talaq and polygamy infringe on women's right to a dignified existence, and if constitutional protection for religious practises should extend to those that do not comply with fundamental rights.

Challenges To UCC

UCC Exceptions in Central Family Laws Face Challenges: All central family law Acts approved by Parliament since Independence stipulate that they shall apply to "the whole country of India, excluding the state of Jammu and Kashmir."

"Nothing herein included shall apply to the Renoncants in the Union Territory of Pondicherry," a second exemption was introduced to all of these Acts in 1968.

With the exception of Goa, Daman, and Diu, none of these Acts apply.

Articles 371A and 371G of the Constitution, which apply to the north-eastern states of Nagaland and Mizoram, specify that no legislative legislation will supplant the customary law and religion-based system for governance.

Communal Politics: Communal politics has been used to frame the desire for a common civil code. A significant portion of the population views it as majoritarianism disguised as social change.

Article 25 of the Indian Constitution, which attempts to maintain the right to practise and propagate any religion, clashes with the equality principles stated in Article 14 of the Indian Constitution.

Conclusion

The people' fundamental rights to equality before the law and equal protection under the law, as provided by the Constitution, necessitate a comparable response in these areas. Article 44, which requires the state to make reasonable efforts to ensure that citizens have access to a consistent civil code across India, has the same effect.