UCC in all 21 NDA-ruled States by 2029: Amit Shah
A timeline was announced for the introduction of the Uniform Civil Code (UCC) across 21 state governments by 2029
The announcement cited the abolition of triple talaq and existing UCC legislation already introduced in some states as prior steps in this direction
A separate announcement addressed enforcement of immigration law, referencing deportation of persons found to be illegal immigrants, in the context of the recently enacted Immigration and Foreigners Act, 2025
On the National Register of Citizens (NRC) in Manipur, it was stated that the question of the applicable base year (the 1951 cut-off) remains under discussion with the state's political stakeholders
Other governance milestones cited included the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita's first-year conviction rate and quarterly GDP growth figures
Article 44 — Uniform Civil Code as a Directive Principle
Article 44, located in Part IV (Directive Principles of State Policy) of the Constitution, states: "The State shall endeavour to secure for the citizens a uniform civil code throughout the territory of India." Unlike Fundamental Rights (Part III), DPSPs are non-justiciable under Article 37 — they cannot be enforced by courts, but are declared "fundamental in the governance of the country," guiding legislation and policy.
The announced 2029 timeline for UCC introduction across NDA-governed states extends the Uttarakhand model to additional states, using state-level legislative competence (civil law falls under the Concurrent List, Entry 5, List III) rather than a single central UCC statute.
Supreme Court Jurisprudence on UCC — Shah Bano and Sarla Mudgal
Two landmark Supreme Court cases anchor the constitutional debate on UCC. In Mohd. Ahmed Khan v. Shah Bano Begum (1985), the Court held that a divorced Muslim woman was entitled to maintenance under Section 125 of the Code of Criminal Procedure and urged Parliament to frame a common civil code under Article 44. In Sarla Mudgal v. Union of India (1995), the Court held that a Hindu husband's conversion to Islam to solemnise a second marriage without dissolving the first was invalid, and reiterated that the absence of a UCC allowed exploitation of personal-law diversity.
Key Details
- Following the Shah Bano judgment and political controversy, Parliament enacted the Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Divorce) Act, 1986, which was seen as diluting the ruling
- Sarla Mudgal was decided by a bench that included Justice Kuldip Singh, who observed that with over 80% of citizens already under codified personal law (Hindu Marriage Act 1955, Hindu Succession Act 1956, etc.), there was no justification for further delay on UCC
- The Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Marriage) Act, 2019 criminalised instant "triple talaq" (talaq-e-biddat), following the Supreme Court's 2017 ruling in Shayara Bano v. Union of India that declared the practice unconstitutional as violative of Article 14
The cited "abolition of triple talaq" refers to this 2017 judicial ruling and its subsequent 2019 codification — commonly presented as an incremental step toward the broader Article 44 goal being pursued through the state-level UCC rollout plan.
Immigration and Foreigners Act, 2025 — Deportation Framework
The Immigration and Foreigners Act, 2025 came into force on 1 September 2025, consolidating and repealing four earlier laws: the Passport (Entry into India) Act 1920, the Registration of Foreigners Act 1939, the Foreigners Act 1946, and the Immigration (Carriers' Liability) Act 2000.
The deportation policy reference draws on this consolidated 2025 legal framework, which replaced the pre-existing colonial-era Foreigners Act, 1946 as the operative statute governing determination and removal of illegal immigrants.
National Register of Citizens (NRC) and the Assam Accord Base Year
The NRC is a register of Indian citizens, first prepared in Assam following the 1951 Census and updated (2013–2019) pursuant to Supreme Court directions and the Assam Accord (1985), which set 24 March 1971 as the cut-off date for detecting foreign nationals.
Key Details
- The Assam Accord (signed 1985) resulted from the six-year Assam Movement (1979–1985) against unchecked migration from Bangladesh
- Assam's NRC used 24 March 1971 (the eve of the Bangladesh Liberation War) as the base cut-off, distinct from the 1951 base year referenced for Manipur's proposed NRC exercise
- Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2019 separately created a religion-based fast-track naturalisation path for persecuted minorities from Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh who entered India before 31 December 2014 — a distinct process from NRC citizenship verification
The discussion of a 1951 base year for a Manipur NRC reflects ongoing state-specific negotiations over which historical cut-off date should apply in identifying long-term residents versus unregistered migrants, a matter distinct from and more contested than the Assam framework's 1971 base year.
- Article 44 (Directive Principles, Part IV): calls for a uniform civil code; non-justiciable under Article 37
- Uttarakhand UCC Act, 2024: notified January 2025 — first post-independence state UCC
- Shah Bano case: 1985; Sarla Mudgal case: 1995; Shayara Bano (triple talaq unconstitutional): 2017
- Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Marriage) Act, 2019: criminalised instant triple talaq
- Immigration and Foreigners Act, 2025: in force from 1 September 2025; repealed four earlier laws including the Foreigners Act, 1946
- Citizenship Act, 1955, Section 2(1)(b): statutory definition of "illegal migrant"
- Assam Accord (1985): NRC base cut-off date of 24 March 1971
- UCC rollout target cited: 21 states, by 2029