New Delhi : Law Commission Chairman B S Chauhan, a retired Supreme Court judge, has stressed that the Uniform Civil Code (UCC) should come step-by-step from the people instead of knocking out the personal laws applicable to people of various religions for centuries in one shot.
He said the commission won’t impose its views on the stakeholders in a report sought by the Centre on a directive last year by the Supreme Court, pointing out that even Article 44 of the Constitution is in the form of a suggestion and not a directive or mandatory injunction as it says “the State shall endeavour to secure for the citizens a uniform civil code throughout the country of India.” Even the recommendations of the law commission, a statutory authority created through an Act of Parliament, are not binding on the government, he noted.
A uniform civil code seeks to make laws relating to marriage, divorce, adoption, guardianship, child custodial rights and maintenance uniform for all communities. At present, personal laws governing these rights differ in case of every religion.
On October 7, the commission sought views from the public on various issues, including a uniform civil code and the practice of triple talaq – that allows Muslim men to divorce their wives by repeating the word thrice. Justice Chauhan said it received an overwhelming response and the suggestions would be examined in depth before a report is submitted to the government.
