WHEN 80% UNDER CODIFIED PERSONAL LAW THEN WHY NOT UNIFORM CIVIL CODE FOR ALL INDIAN CITIZENS

SUPREME COURT BATS FOR 

UNIFORM CIVIL CODE 

There should be no discrimination among the citizens of India on the basis of religion or region or ethnicity. What is wrong in moving towards Uniform Civil Code? Why changes in personal laws of only a few religions and rest of  religions left untouched? 

In  Sarla Mudgal vs Union of India case on 10th May 1995, the Supreme Court had said, " Where more than 80% of citizens have already been brought under codified personal law, there is no justification whatsoever to keep in abeyance, any more, the introduction of Uniform Civil Code for all citizens in India."

The Supreme Court of India again said  on 7th July 2015 "Religion must be kept at a distance from law in a secular country like India and favoured implementation of Uniform Civil Code."

"India is a secular nation and it is a cardinal necessity that religion be distanced from law. Therefore, the task before us is to interpret the law of the land, not in light of the tenets of the parties' religion but in keeping with legislative intent and prevailing case law." 

Courtesy:supremecourtofindia.nic.in

"Christian  unwed mothers in India are disadvantaged when compared to their Hindu counterparts, who are the natural guardians of their illegitimate children by virtue of their maternity alone, without the requirement of any notice to the putative fathers. It would be apposite for  us to underscore that our Directive Principles envision the existence of a Uniform Civil Code, but this remains an unaddressed constitutional expectation." 

The Supreme Court of India refused to consider tenets of Christian religion while favourably deciding the rights of an unwed Christian mother. 

Uniform Civil Code is a term which has its origin in the concept of a civil law code. It envisions administering the same set of secular civil laws to govern different people belonging to different regions & religions.  This replaces the right of citizens to subject themselves to different personal laws based on their religion or ethnicity. Art 44 of Constitution of India lists  Uniform Civil Code as one of the Directive Principles of State Policy which is fundamental in the governance  of the country.