What is the 'Uniform Civil Code' that has been promised in the BJP's manifesto?
The Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) released its election manifesto on April 7, amidst much fuss and furore.
There
has since been some discussion over the inclusion of the Uniform Civil
Code in the manifesto. The manifesto says, 'BJP believes that there
cannot be gender equality till such time India adopts a Uniform Civil
Code, which protects the rights of all women, and the BJP reiterates its
stand to draft a Uniform Civil Code, drawing upon the best traditions
and harmonising them with the modern times'.
For all those who don't know what a Uniform Civil Code is, here's a little insight that might prove to be useful.
What is Uniform Civil Code?
Article
44 of the constitution of India lists Uniform Civil Code as one of the
Directive Principles of state policy. Directive Principles of State
policy, which comprises the Part IV of the Constitution of India, are
guidelines for the State and Central governments to help them in framing
laws and policies. However these Directive Principles “shall not be
enforceable by any court, but the principles therein laid down are
nevertheless fundamental in the governance of the country and it shall
be the duty of the State to apply these principles in making laws”,
according to Article 37 of the Constitution which talks about the
application of the Principles contained in Part IV.
In
India, there are different set of laws for different communities
pertaining to personal matters like marriage, divorce, property,
adoption, inheritance and maintenance. The Uniform Civil Code implies
covering all these personal laws into one unified set of a secular law,
that will be applicable for each and every citizen of India irrespective
of his/her religious community.
However, in India, Goa is the
only state to have implemented the directive principle on the Uniform
Civil Code and converted it into a law called the Goa Civil Code or the
Goa Family Law. It is the set of civil laws that governs all the Goans
irrespective of the religion or the ethnicity to which they belong
News
Source / Sabhaar :
http://www.dnaindia.com/india/report-what-is-the-uniform-civil-code-that-has-been-promised-in-the-bjp-s-manifesto-1976053
(07.04.2014)
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समान नागरिकता कानून
मुक्त ज्ञानकोश विकिपीडिया से
समान
नागरिकता कानून का अर्थ भारत के सभी नागरिकों के लिए समान नागरिक (सिविल)
कानून (विधि) से है। समान नागरिक संहिता एक सेक्युलर (पंथनिरपेक्ष) कानून
होता है जो सभी धर्मों के लोगों के लिये समान रूप से लागू होता है। दूसरे
शब्दों में, अलग-अलग धर्मों के लिये अलग-अलग सिविल कानून न होना ही 'समान
नागरिक संहिता' का मूल भावना है। समान नागरिक कानून से अभिप्राय कानूनों के
वैसे समूह से है जो देश के समस्त नागरिकों (चाहे वह किसी धर्म या क्षेत्र
से संबंधित हों) पर लागू होता है. यह किसी भी धर्म या जाति के सभी निजी
कानूनों से ऊपर होता है. ऐसे कानून विश्व के अधिकतर आधुनिक देशों में लागू
हैं.
समान नागरिकता कानून के अंतर्गत
व्यक्तिगत स्तर
संपत्ति के अधिग्रहण और संचालन का अधिकार
विवाह, तलाक और गोद लेना
समान
नागरिकता कानून भारत के संबंध में है, जहां भारत का संविधान राज्य के नीति
निर्देशक तत्व में सभी नागरिकों को समान नागरिकता कानून सुनिश्चित करने के
प्रति प्रतिबद्धता व्यक्त करता है. हालांकि इस तरह का कानून अभी तक लागू
नहीं किया जा सका है.
भारत
में अधिकतर निजी कानून धर्म के आधार पर तय किए गए हैं.हिंदू, सिख, जैन और
बौद्ध हिंदू विधि के अंतर्गत आते हैं, जबकि मुस्लिम और ईसाई के लिए अपने
कानून हैं. मुस्लिमों का कानून शरीअतपर आधारित है; अन्य धार्मिक समुदायों
के कानून भारतीय संसद के संविधान पर आधारित हैं.
Source :
Wikipedia Article
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Information Published in Economic Times of India : -
What's a uniform civil code?
The
term civil code is used to cover the entire body of laws governing
rights relating to property and otherwise in personal matters like
marriage, divorce, maintenance, adoption and inheritance.
As
things stand, there are different laws governing these aspects for
different communities in India. Thus, the laws governing inheritance or
divorce among Hindus would be different from those pertaining to Muslims
or Christians and so on.
The demand for a uniform
civil code essentially means unifying all these "personal laws" to have
one set of secular laws dealing with these aspects that will apply to
all citizens of India irrespective of the community they belong to.
Though the exact contours of such a uniform code have not been spelt
out, it should presumably incorporate the most modern and progressive
aspects of all existing personal laws while discarding those which are
retrograde.
What does the Indian Constitution have to say on the subject?
Article
44, which is one of the "directive principles" laid down in the
Constitution says: "The State shall endeavour to secure for the citizens
a uniform civil code throughout the territory of India." As Article 37
of the Constitution itself makes clear, the directive principles "shall
not be enforceable by any court". Nevertheless, they are "fundamental in
the governance of the country".
What has the Supreme Court said on the issue?
Very
recently, while hearing a case pertaining to whether a Christian has
the right to bequeath property to a charity, the court regretted the
fact that the state had not yet implemented a uniform civil code. This
is not the first time that the apex court has expressed itself in favour
of a uniform civil code or taken a dim view of the government's and
legislature's inability to bring it into being. There have been other
occasions — like during the Shah Bano case and later in the Sarla Mudgal
case — where too the apex court has come out strongly in favour of the
enactment of a uniform civil code. However, none of these comments are
binding on the executive or the legislature and do not amount to orders.
At best, they exert some moral pressure on the Indian state to move
towards formulating a uniform civil code.
Would a uniform code affect the personal laws of only one community?
Not
at all. The perception that a uniform civil code would necessitate
changes in only Muslim personal law is quite incorrect. As women's
organisations and others have repeatedly pointed out, personal laws
governing different communities in India have a common feature — they
are all gender-biased.
For instance, the law pertaining
to succession among Hindus is unequal in the way it treats men and
women. A truly modern, secular, non-discriminatory and progressive code
would, therefore, mean changes in all personal laws. The concept of the
"Hindu undivided family", at least insofar as it pertains to succession,
would also obviously have to undergo a change under a uniform civil
code. Similarly, Muslim, Christian and other personal laws too would
have to change. This also explains why historically changes in personal
law have been resisted not just by one community, but by the ruling
orthodoxy in all of them.
What had prevented a uniform civil code from coming into being?
Since
it involves a change in laws, an obvious prerequisite is sufficient
support for the move within Parliament. The reason this has been
difficult to achieve has been because most parties have held the view
that the reform of laws pertaining to the personal domain is better done
by pressure for such change from within communities rather than as an
imposition from above. Further, for historical reasons, the demand for a
uniform civil code has acquired communal overtones which have
overshadowed the innate merits of the proposal.
To put
the delay in perspective, however, it should be added that Article 44 of
the Constitution is by no means the only directive principle to have
not been implemented more than half a century after it was laid down.
Most directive principles continue to remain pious doctrines rather than
the law of the land.
News Source :
http://articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com/2003-07-28/news/27541538_1_uniform-civil-code-personal-laws-sarla-mudgal
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Wikipedia Information :
Uniform civil code of India
Uniform
civil code in India is the debate 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. These laws are
distinguished from public law and cover marriage, divorce, inheritance,
adoption and maintenance. Article 44 of the Directive Principles in
India sets the implementation of a uniform civil code throughout the
country as duty of the State. Apart from being an important issue
regarding secularism in the country, it became one of the most
controversial topics in contemporary politics during the Shah Bano case
in 1985. In this case, a divorced Muslim woman sought maintenance from
her husband. The debate then focused on the Muslim Personal Law, which
is partially based on the Sharia law and remains unreformed since 1937,
permitting unilateral divorce and polygamy in the country. The demand
for it was first put forward by women activists in the beginning of the
twentieth century, with the objective of women's rights, equality and
secularism. The Bano case made it a politicised public issue focused on
identity politics—by means of attacking specific religious minorities
versus protecting its cultural identity. The Hindu right-wing Bharatiya
Janta Party and the Left support it while the Congress Party and All
India Muslim Personal Law Board oppose it.
The personal
laws were first framed during the British Raj, mainly for the Hindu and
Muslim citizens. The Hindu orthodox law discriminated against women by
depriving them of inheritance, remarriage and divorce. The British
feared opposition from community leaders and refrained from interfering
within this domestic sphere. Till Independence in 1947, a few law
reforms were passed to improve their condition, especially that of 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 of the Indian Constitution. The Shah Bano
case resulted in her being granted maintenance under the All India
Criminal Code. Amidst the political debate that followed, the Muslim
Women (Protection of Rights on Divorce) Act 1986 was passed, which
exempted Muslims from the Criminal Code—a setback to family law
uniformity.
Source : Wikipedia / http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uniform_civil_code_of_India
