Indian law students are reporting for JURIST on law-related developments in and affecting India. This dispatch is from Nakul Rai Khurana, a law student at Jindal Global Law School.
Last week, on 9th December, a Member of Parliament from the ruling Bhartiya Janta Party (BJP) introduced a private member bill on India’s Uniform Civil Code (‘UCC’) in the Rajya Sabha (Upper House of the Parliament) that fueled a debate that has persisted since the advent of colonialism and continues to subsist within the political climate of India even today. Despite heavy opposition, the move was supported by the government in the Rajya Sabha. It was interesting to note that the bold move came one day after the BJP emerged victorious in the Gujarat State polls. It reinforced the ruling party’s political manifesto of enforcing Hindutva – right-wing nationalism – which may also serve as the foundation for the upcoming national elections in 2024.
The UCC Bill has been introduced as a political reform, as a response to the existing complicated set of personal laws. The Constituent Assembly, by the end of the British Raj, first dealt with the question of whether a complex system of religious laws should persist, given its conflicting tendencies, or these separate laws should be supplanted by a uniform code applicable to all citizens, regardless of their personal religious beliefs. Supporters of the UCC argued that it provided for the emergence of a secular and progressive nation, while the opponents felt it to be conflicting with the ideas of inclusiveness and pluralism. A compromise between the two schools of thought led to its inclusion as a Directive Principle of State Policy (DPSP), under Article 44 of the Constitution.
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