What is The Uniform Civil Code (UCC)?
UCC lays down the concept of a common set of laws that govern all citizens of India, irrespective of their religion or custom. This means that following the adoption of UCC, personal laws governing inheritance, marriage, divorce, alimony, etc. shall no longer be governed by the religion of a citizen.
At the moment, there is no uniformity in the application of civil laws in India, particularly with regard to personal matters, which in turn confer unequal rights on individuals depending on their religion. As such, Hindus, Muslims, Jains, Buddhists, Sikhs, Christians and Parsis are all currently governed by their own personal laws. It is important to note that under a number of personal laws women have been given an inferior status as compared to men, particularly in relation to matters such as marriage, divorce and property inheritance. Moreover, several of these personal laws are not codified or documented but are based on oral or written sources that are often ambiguous or contradictory.
UCC aims to do away with this ambiguity.
Why is UCC Vital for Women Empowerment?
1) Child Marriage
Currently, the age of marriage is not uniform throughout the country. For a girl, the minimum age is 18 and for boys it is 21. In addition, under Muslim law, no minimum marriageable age of a girl has been defined. UCC aims to establish a uniform minimum age of marriage for all religions, thereby protecting girls from child marriages.
2) Inheritance Rights on Ancestral Property
While a Hindu or Christian daughter is entitled to receive a share equal to her brother in the ancestral property of her family, a Muslim girl is only entitled to receive half of the share that her brother receives. Also, when a Parsi woman dies, both her son and daughter are entitled to an equal share in her property but on the other hand, the daughter will receive an unequal share when she has to acquire her father’s property. After the implementation of UCC, both son and daughter, across all religions, are likely to receive an equal share in their family’s ancestral property.
3) Polygamy
Polygamy is prohibited under Hindu law (which applies to Hindus, Sikhs, Jains, and Buddhists) and is also a criminal offence under the Indian Penal Code. The Special Marriage Act, as well as Christian and Parsi laws, also outlaw bigamy. However, Muslim personal law still recognises polygamy as a legal practice and a Muslim man can marry and maintain four wives at the same time. Note that, in contrast, a Muslim woman does not get the same right. Pursuant to the implementation of UCC, polygamy shall become unlawful for persons of all religions.
4) Right to Maintenance
In Shah Bano Begum v. Mohammad Ahmed Khan (1985), a Muslim husband refused to pay maintenance to his wife beyond the period of iddat (a period of about three months that a Muslim woman must observe after a divorce, during which she may not marry another man) claiming that the Muslim personal law stipulates that maintenance must only be paid during the period of iddat. The Honourable Supreme Court of India allowed the wife to claim maintenance even after the expiry of the period of iddat under Section 125 of the Criminal Procedure Code. This was a landmark judgement that examined the issue of gender equality vis-à-vis personal laws and also discussed the need to implement UCC.
Conclusion
All women in India, irrespective of their religious beliefs, are entitled to enjoy the same rights and be treated fairly. Implementation of a common set of laws will ensure equal treatment under the law, irrespective of one’s religious background. It can help overcome outdated customs and practices that may be discriminatory in nature.
Moreover, the Indian Constitution itself establishes a positive obligation on the State to put UCC into effect. Article 44 of the Constitution of India states that “The State shall endeavour to secure the citizen a Uniform Civil Code throughout the territory of India”.
Even our judiciary has, time and again, supported the implementation of UCC.
While there’s still a long way to go for Indian women to be truly empowered, UCC is undoubtedly a step in the right direction.
