Fri. Mar 29th, 2024
Supreme Court of India

The Law Commission of India on Friday declared the nonnecessity of the Uniform Civil Code(UCC), saying that it is “neither necessary nor desirable at this stage.” The Law Commission in its ‘Consultation Paper on Family Law Reforms’ has suggested reforms in the family laws of all religions vid “amendments and codification”, to make them more gender neutral, reported The Indian Express.

The Commission said, “cultural diversity cannot be compromised to the extent that our urge for uniformity itself becomes a reason for threat to the territorial integrity of the nation”, reported The Hindu.

The Commission seeks “equality ‘within communities’ between men and women” (personal law reform), “rather than ‘equality between’ communities”.

The consultation paper argued that the commission “dealt with laws that are discriminatory rather than providing a uniform civil code which is neither necessary nor desirable at this stage. Most countries are now moving towards recognition of difference, and the mere existence of difference does not imply discrimination, but is indicative of a robust democracy.”

The 185-page consultation paper aims at achieving codification of personal laws of every religion to ensure gender equality. The Law Commission said, “By codification of different personal laws, one can arrive at certain universal principles that prioritise equity rather than imposition of a Uniform Code, which would discourage many from using the law altogether, given that matters of marriage and divorce can also be settled extra-judicially.”

It emphasized that “women must be guaranteed their freedom of faith without any compromise on their right to equality”. The paper sought to form a balance between ‘freedom of religion and right to equality’.

Some of the many reforms mentioned in the consultation paper were– same legal age of marriage for both men and women, adultery should be a ground for divorce in Muslim law, nikahnamas should declare polygamy as a criminal offence, which should be considered by “all communities”, children conceived out of marriage should have inheritance rights, adults of either gender should be able to adopt children of any gender.

By isha

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