The Core Argument

Recent judicial observations have renewed pressure for implementing a Uniform Civil Code across India. This editorial argues that while the aspiration for a UCC is constitutionally grounded, a blanket uniformity approach risks harming the very communities it claims to empower — particularly Muslim women. The better path is gradual, piecemeal harmonisation of personal laws that incorporates the most progressive elements from each tradition.

Constitutional Mandate and Political Reality

Article 44: A Directive, Not a Command

The Uniform Civil Code is enshrined in Article 44 of the Constitution as a Directive Principle of State Policy — it directs the state to “endeavour to secure for the citizens a uniform civil code throughout the territory of India.”

Crucially, DPSPs are non-justiciable — they cannot be enforced by courts. But they represent constitutional aspirations. The Supreme Court has repeatedly remarked that the UCC remains an “unfulfilled constitutional mandate.”

The Fundamental Rights Tension

Against Article 44 stands Article 25 — the right to freely profess, practice, and propagate religion — and Article 29 — the right of minorities to conserve their distinct culture. Personal law, for most communities, is inseparable from religious and cultural identity.

The constitutional tension is real: the same document that mandates a UCC also protects the diversity that a UCC would curtail.

The Muslim Women Question

What UCC Proponents Argue

Supporters argue a UCC would:

  • End triple talaq practices (already legislatively banned by the Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Marriage) Act, 2019)
  • Ensure equal inheritance rights for Muslim women (currently 1/2 of male share under Hanafi law)
  • Provide equal divorce rights comparable to Hindu women under Hindu Marriage Act, 1955

The Counter-Argument: Where Muslim Women Could Lose

A carefully drafted UCC that uses Hindu personal law as the default template could paradoxically harm Muslim women in areas where Islamic personal law is more progressive:

  • Mehr (dower): A mandatory payment from husband to wife — no equivalent exists in Hindu law
  • Maintenance during iddat: Guaranteed financial support post-divorce — though limited in duration
  • Property rights: In some interpretations, Muslim women have stronger rights to pre-marital assets

The risk is a UCC that achieves uniformity at the level of the lowest common denominator rather than the highest standard of justice.

The Piecemeal Harmonisation Model

What It Proposes

Instead of a single sweeping code, reform personal laws incrementally:

  1. Codify uncodified customs — many tribal and community-specific practices are still unwritten; codification alone would improve women’s rights
  2. Progressive inheritance — amend all personal laws to provide equal inheritance, beginning with the most egregious disparities
  3. Uniform age of marriage — already achieved through Prohibition of Child Marriage (Amendment) Act
  4. Uniform adoption rights — Muslim families still cannot adopt under the Juvenile Justice Act’s more streamlined framework

International Examples

  • Turkey (1926): Rapid UCC implementation via secular revolution — effective but through authoritarian imposition
  • France: Civil Code applies uniformly but religious communities retain ceremonial (non-legal) traditions
  • India’s own success: Special Marriage Act, 1954 — a voluntary UCC for those who choose civil marriage across religion — demonstrates that a non-coercive path is possible

UPSC Mains Relevance

GS2 — Polity/Governance: Constitutional provisions (Article 44, 25, 29), Supreme Court observations on UCC (Shah Bano, Sarla Mudgal, John Vallamattom cases), personal law reform.

GS1 — Society: Diversity vs uniformity in Indian society; women’s rights across religious communities; secularism in India.

📌 Facts Corner

Article 44 (DPSP): State shall endeavour to secure a Uniform Civil Code for citizens Article 25: Freedom to profess, practice, propagate religion (subject to public order, morality, health) Article 29: Right of minorities to conserve distinct language, script, culture Shah Bano Case (1985): SC held Muslim women entitled to maintenance under CrPC Section 125; Parliament reversed via Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Divorce) Act 1986 Muslim Women Act, 2019: Criminalised instant triple talaq; 3 years imprisonment Special Marriage Act, 1954: Enables inter-religious civil marriage; voluntary UCC framework Mehr (Mahr): Mandatory gift/payment from groom to bride under Islamic marriage law; not present in Hindu/Christian personal law UCC in India so far: Only Goa has a UCC — inherited from Portuguese Civil Code (Goa Civil Code, 1870)