The Gujarat government on Saturday apprised the masses about its decision to form a panel for the implementation of the Uniform Civil Code. The decision was taken in a cabinet meeting of the BJP-led government ahead of the Assembly elections. The panel will be headed by a retired High Court judge and will have four members. Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel will select the members of the committee. The government said no fundamental rights of any community will be hampered. The Hindu Marriage Act and Muslim personal law will be covered under the UCC. "We do not intend to override the fundamental rights of the people. UCC is about resolving discrepancies that arise in civil disputes, such as the wife or daughter's claim on the husband or father's property. We had received many representations from people about such issues," a minister told PTI.
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What is Uniform Civil Code?
Uniform Civil Code simply means the same laws for all the people of the country irrespective of religion, caste, creed, ethnicity, and gender. This means all people will abide by similar laws when it comes to marriage, divorce, inheritance, etc.
For example, in India, there is a Muslim Personal Law under which a Muslim man is allowed to marry four times. People of other communities can marry one woman. The Muslim personal law is based on Shariat whereas the laws of other religions are government by Parliament. Also, there are separate marriage acts.
Uniform Civil Code is a secular law, which is above all private laws of any religion or caste. But there is no such law system in India yet. At present, people of every religion in the country settle matters of marriage, divorce and property according to their personal laws. The Muslim, Christian, and Parsi communities have their own personal laws, while the Hindu Personal Law deals with civil matters of Hindu, Sikh, Jain, and Buddhist religions.
The Indian courts on several occasions have stressed the need for a uniform civil code.
Also read: DNA Special: Why Uniform Civil Code is need of the hour in India?
In the year 1985, during the Shah Bano case, the Supreme Court said that the Uniform Civil Code would help in keeping the country one. Then the court also said that the conflict of ideologies arising out of different laws in the country would end. Apart from this, in the year 1995, the Supreme Court directed the government that Article 44 of the Constitution should be implemented in the country.
Many counties have their respective uniform civil codes. For instance, in France, the laws are equally applied to all citizens. The United States and the United Kingdom also have their UCCs. Australia, Germany and Uzbekistan also have such laws. However, Kenya, Pakistan, Italy, South Africa, Nigeria, and Greece do not have Uniform Civil Codes.
Implementation of UCC was mentioned in the BJP's 2019 agenda.
