In a far-reaching decision that can trigger a heated political debate, the Narendra Modi Government has asked the law Commission to “examine” the contentious issue of implementing the Uniform Civil Code. This is the first time a Union Government has asked the Commission, which has a crucial advisory role on legal reform, to look into the politically controversial issue of Uniform Civil Code.
Official confirmation about the move came on Friday after reports emerged that the Department of legal Affairs had written to the Commission to undertake this task. law Minister DV Sadananda Gowda told reporters, “I have asked the law Commission to submit a report.” He was responding to a question whether the law Ministry had sought a report on the Uniform Civil Code from the law Commission.
The Commission is headed by retired Supreme Court judge Balbir Singh Chauhan. Commission sources said that it has received a note prepared by an Undersecretary in the Department of legal Affairs and it will undertake the task by consulting experts and stakeholders. This will be an extensive exercise and is expected to take time. When asked whether he sought a time-bound report, the law Minister replied, “We cannot pressurise anyone for a time-bound report.”
The development comes in the wake of several observations made by the Supreme Court asking the Centre to clear its stand on the Uniform Civil Code. last year, a judge of the Supreme Court observed in a judgment that the prevalence of triple talaq and polygamy under the personal laws governing Muslim women amounted to gender discrimination. His remarks were later converted into a suo moto petition on which a Bench headed by Chief Justice TS Thakur this week held that the question whether personal laws be open to judicial review will be examined by the court.
Having the Uniform Civil Code will leave no room for personal laws or separate laws governing marriage, divorce, succession and related matters. Recently, a petition in the form of PIl was filed in Supreme Court demanding a Uniform Civil Code to which the Bench headed by the CJI replied that it is the task of Parliament and not courts. The Government seems to have moved in this direction and is likely to state this to the apex court when the petition on Muslim women’s right to equality will be heard in September this year.
Reacting to the Government’s decision, the BJP said that all those who have been opposed to Uniform Civil Code are doing vote-bank politics. “There should be an open debate over it. The Constitution’s Article 44 calls for it and those who oppose it only show their intolerance to the Constitution. We have always advocated for Uniform Civil Code. It has been opposed due to vote-bank politics,” said BJP national secretary Shrikant Sharma.
Implementation of a Uniform Civil Code has been a core issue of BJP and the sangh parivar but the NDA Governments in 1989 and 1999 and even the current dispensation headed by Narendra Modi have put the contentious issues like scrapping of Article 370 and construction of Ram temple on the back burner.
The Congress accused the Centre’s move to be not “genuine” and accused the BJP of playing divisive politics ahead of three major State Assembly elections next year. Party spokesman Abhishek Singhvi said it is “cheap politics of BJP” when election in a major State is advancing.
He said it was a “fact” that whenever elections approach, issues like Uniform Civil Code, Article 370 of the Constitution granting special status to Jammu & Kashmir and building of Ram temple in Ayodhya are raised to create an atmosphere of communal polarisation. “After gaining power, they are put on the back burner,” Singhvi added.
All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen’s Asaduddin Owaisi dubbed the decision of the Government as a move to turn the nation into a “Hindu Rashtra”. “I challenge the Government to impose total prohibition. If the Government is serious about the civil code, it should withdraw the tax rebate extended to Hindu Undivided Families in the next session of Parliament,” he said.