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  India   Law panel to examine UCC: Government

Law panel to examine UCC: Government

AGE CORRESPONDENT WITH AGENCY INPUTS
Published : Jul 2, 2016, 10:27 am IST
Updated : Jul 2, 2016, 10:27 am IST

The Centre has asked the Law Commission of India to examine whether a uniform civil code can be implemented, sources said.

The Centre has asked the Law Commission of India to examine whether a uniform civil code can be implemented, sources said. The move, ahead of the 2017 Uttar Pradesh Assembly polls, is seen as one trying to address a core issue on the Sangh Parivar’s agenda.

The law ministry’s Department of Legal Affairs has asked the Law Commission of India to submit a report on the issue. While the move has been welcomed by the BJP, it has been opposed by the Muslim Majlis and some activists.

The implementation of a common civil code in the country has been part of the BJP’s election manifesto over the past several years. However, the NDA, when it came to power in 1998 and 1999, and then under Narendra Modi in 2014, had till now kept contentious issues, like scrapping of Article 370 and the construction of a Ram temple, on the backburner.

Significantly, the Supreme Court of India had recently said it would prefer a wider debate, in public as well as in court, before taking a decision on the constitutional validity of “triple talaq”, which many complain is abused by Muslim men to arbitrarily divorce their wives.

The government is likely to inform the Supreme Court of its decision to refer the matter of a uniform civil code to the Law Commission when the matter comes up in September.

Reacting, the BJP said a uniform civil code has been opposed due to vote bank politics despite it finding a mention in the Constitution. “There should be an open debate over it. The Constitution calls for it and those who oppose it only show their intolerance to the Constitution. We have always advocated it. There should be a uniform civil code. It has been opposed due to vote-bank politics,” BJP national secretary Shrikant Sharma said.

All-India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen’s Asaduddin Owaisi said the move of the government was an attempt to move towards turning India into a “Hindu Rashtra”. “I challenged 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, adding that the government is diverting the attention of the people as it has failed to provide employment and fuel economic growth.

Shaista Amber, who had been fighting for the cause of Muslim women, said the commission should hold wider consultations.

However, senior advocate K.T.S. Tulsi said the issue of a common civil code is related to equal rights for both men and women as enshrined in the Constitution. He wondered why only men have the right to give triple talaq. “That right should be with Muslim women also,” he said.

Earlier, Union law and justice minister D.V. Sadananda Gowda had said the issue could be referred to the Law Commission for examination. Mr Gowda had said “wider consultations” would be held with various personal law boards and other stakeholders to evolve a consensus and that the process may take time. “Even the Preamble of our Constitution and Article 44 of the Constitution do say that there should be a uniform civil code. It needs wider consultation,” he had said. It “cannot be done in a day or two. It will take its own time,” Mr Gowda had said.

Location: India, Delhi, New Delhi