Uniform Civil Code: Difference between revisions

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{{Family law|all}}

The '''Uniform Civil Code''' is a proposal in India to formulate and implement [[personal law]]s of citizens which apply equally to all citizens, regardless of their religion. Currently, personal laws of various communities are governed by their religious scriptures.<ref name="HTMAR21"/> Personal laws cover marriage, divorce, inheritance, adoption and [[alimony|maintenance]]. While articles 25-28 of the [[Constitution of India|Indian Constitution]] guarantee [[Freedom of religion in India|religious freedom]] to Indian citizens and allow religious groups to maintain their own affairs, article 44 expects the Indian state to apply [[Directive Principles|directive principles]] and common law foruniformly to all Indian citizens whilewhen formulating national policies.<ref name="Blueprint for scholarly discourse">{{Cite book|author1=Shimon Shetreet|author2=Hiram E. Chodosh|title=Uniform Civil Code for India: Proposed Blueprint for Scholarly Discourse|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=y-pIDwAAQBAJ&pg=PT4|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0-19-807712-1|date=December 2014|access-date=2020-08-22}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=Article 44 in the Constitution of India 1949|url=https://indiankanoon.org/doc/1406604/ |website=Indian Kanoon |access-date=2020-08-22}}</ref>

Personal laws were first framed during the [[British Raj]], mainly for Hindu and Muslim subjects. The British feared opposition from community leaders and refrained from further interfering within this [[Separate spheres|domestic sphere]]. The Indian state of [[Goa]] was separated from [[British Raj|British India]] during the colonial rule in the erstwhile [[Portuguese Goa and Damaon|Portuguese Goa and Daman]], retained a common family law known as the [[Goa civil code]] and thus was the only state in India with a uniform civil code prior to 2024. Following India's independence, [[Hindu code bills]] were introduced which largely codified and reformed personal laws in various sects among [[Indian religions]] like [[Buddhism|Buddhists]], [[Hindus]], [[Jains]] and [[Sikhs]] but they exempted [[Christians]], [[Jews]], [[Muslims]] and [[Parsis]].<ref name="Rina Wiiliams">{{Cite book|author=Rina Verma Williams|title=Postcolonial Politics and Personal Laws|pages=18, 28, 106, 107, 119|publisher=[[Oxford University Press]]|isbn=0-19-568014-6|date=2006}}</ref><ref name="The Wire UCC gender justice">{{cite news |last1=Dasgupta |first1=Sravasti |title=BJP Equates UCC With Gender Justice. But Can It End Discrimination In-Built in Personal Laws? |url=https://thewire.in/women/bjp-ucc-with-gender-justice-discrimination-personal-laws |access-date=6 July 2023 |work=[[The Wire (India)|The Wire]] |date=6 July 2023 |___location=New Delhi |language=en}}</ref>