West Bengal forms panel to draft UCC bill

Article 44 of the Indian Constitution states: "The State shall endeavour to secure for the citizens a uniform civil code throughout the territory of India." It is located in Part IV (Articles 36–51), which enshrines the Directive Principles of State Policy (DPSPs).

DPSPs are non-justiciable — Article 37 explicitly states they shall not be enforceable by any court — but they are "fundamental in the governance of the country" and directive upon the State in law-making. The Supreme Court in Minerva Mills v. Union of India (1980) held that harmony between Fundamental Rights (Part III) and DPSPs is part of the basic structure of the Constitution.

Key Details

• Article 44 has its roots in the Constituent Assembly debates: Dr. B.R. Ambedkar supported a UCC as essential to national integration and gender justice; members from Muslim League and some minority groups opposed it on grounds of religious freedom, leading to its placement in the non-enforceable DPSP chapter rather than the justiciable Fundamental Rights chapter.
• The Supreme Court has repeatedly called on Parliament to enact a UCC: Mohd. Ahmed Khan v. Shah Bano Begum (1985); Sarla Mudgal v. Union of India (1995); Jose Paulo Coutinho v. Maria Luiza Valentina Pereira (2019) — in which the Court regretted that "no attempt has been made to frame a common civil code despite the constitutional mandate."
• Goa has functioned as a de facto UCC state since its 1961 accession to India — it retained the Portuguese Civil Code of 1867, making it the only Indian state with a common civil code applicable to all residents regardless of religion.
• Uttarakhand became the first state of independent India to enact a UCC by statute — the Uniform Civil Code of Uttarakhand Act, 2024, passed on February 7, 2024, granted Presidential assent on March 12, 2024, and brought into force on January 27, 2025.

Whether a state legislature can enact a UCC involves a nuanced reading of the Seventh Schedule:

• Concurrent List (List III), Entry 5: "Marriage and divorce; infants and minors; adoption; wills, intestacy and succession; joint family and partition; all matters in respect of which parties in judicial proceedings were immediately before the commencement of this Constitution subject to their personal law." — Both Parliament and state legislatures can legislate on these subjects.
• Article 254: In the event of repugnancy between a central law and a state law on a Concurrent List subject, the central law prevails. However, Article 254(2) allows a state law on a Concurrent List subject to override a central law if it has received Presidential assent.

Key Details

• Existing personal law statutes — Hindu Marriage Act, 1955; Muslim Personal Law (Shariat) Application Act, 1937; Indian Christian Marriage Act, 1872; Parsi Marriage and Divorce Act, 1936 — are all central legislation on Concurrent List subjects.
• A state UCC that overlaps with or supersedes these statutes would require Presidential assent under Article 254(2) to be operative.
• Uttarakhand's UCC received Presidential assent in March 2024, establishing the procedural path a state must follow.
• Gujarat announced a UCC committee in 2022; Assam and Madhya Pradesh have held consultations — but none have enacted a UCC statute other than Uttarakhand.

India maintains religion-specific personal law codes governing family matters for different communities — a legacy of pre-independence plural legal systems:

• Hindus (including Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains): Hindu Marriage Act, 1955; Hindu Succession Act, 1956; Hindu Minority and Guardianship Act, 1956; Hindu Adoptions and Maintenance Act, 1956 (collectively, the "Hindu Code Bills" championed by Dr. B.R. Ambedkar as Law Minister).
• Muslims: Muslim Personal Law (Shariat) Application Act, 1937; Dissolution of Muslim Marriages Act, 1939. Instant triple talaq (talaq-e-biddah) was criminalised by the Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Marriage) Act, 2019 following the Supreme Court's ruling in Shayara Bano v. Union of India (2017).
• Christians: Indian Christian Marriage Act, 1872; Indian Divorce Act, 1869 (as amended).
• Parsis: Parsi Marriage and Divorce Act, 1936.
• All communities (secular option): Special Marriage Act, 1954 — a civil marriage and succession code available to any couple irrespective of religion or caste.

Key Details

• Article 25 (Freedom of Religion) and Article 26 (Freedom of Religious Denominations to manage their own affairs) are frequently invoked in UCC debates as potential barriers; the Supreme Court has held that a UCC does not violate Articles 25–26 as long as it does not interfere with the essential religious practices doctrine.
• Article 29 (Cultural and educational rights of minorities) provides additional constitutional protection to minority communities to conserve their culture, script, and language.
• A UCC must be balanced against these provisions — any statute that effectively mandates abandonment of an essential religious practice would face challenge under Articles 25–26.