Amit Shah wants UCC in all NDA states by 2029. What will JD(U) do in Bihar?
Several state governments have indicated an intention to enact Uniform Civil Code (UCC) legislation, with a stated target of completing rollout across these states before 2029.
The move follows Uttarakhand's precedent as the first Indian state to bring a comprehensive UCC into force, using its own state legislation rather than a central law.
Not all state governments within the same governing coalition have committed to an identical timeline; at least one state government has indicated it will not implement a UCC in its present form, citing the state's distinct religious and social composition.
The development has renewed debate on whether UCC should be legislated state-by-state or through a single central enactment, and on the constitutional basis for pursuing it as a directive principle.
Article 44 — Uniform Civil Code as a Directive Principle
Article 44, placed 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." As a DPSP, it is non-justiciable under Article 37 — no citizen can approach a court to enforce it — but it is meant to guide state policy-making. Personal laws governing marriage, divorce, succession, adoption, and maintenance historically vary by religious community in India, and Article 44 envisions replacing this plurality with a common civil code applicable to all citizens.
Because personal law sits in the Concurrent List, individual states can legislate a UCC without waiting for a central law — the legal basis for Uttarakhand's action and for other states now following the same route.
Uttarakhand Uniform Civil Code Act, 2024 — The First State Model
Uttarakhand became the first Indian state to bring a comprehensive Uniform Civil Code into force. The Uniform Civil Code of Uttarakhand Bill, 2024 was passed by the state legislative assembly on February 7, 2024, received presidential assent on March 11, 2024, and came into effect on January 27, 2025, when the state government notified the UCC portal and rules.
Uttarakhand's model — state-level legislation, ST exemption, live-in relationship registration — is the template other state governments are reported to be examining for their own UCC laws.
Personal Laws, Fundamental Rights, and the Judicial Backdrop
UCC debates recur at the intersection of Article 44 (DPSP) and Articles 25-26 (freedom of religion, Part III). Courts have repeatedly flagged the desirability of a uniform code while stopping short of directing its enactment, treating it as a matter for the legislature. Landmark cases have addressed personal-law reform incrementally rather than through a single uniform code.
Key Details
- Mohd. Ahmed Khan v. Shah Bano Begum (1985) — Supreme Court upheld a Muslim woman's right to maintenance under Section 125 CrPC and observed that a common civil code would help national integration; this triggered the enactment of a separate law by Parliament governing maintenance for Muslim women.
- Sarla Mudgal v. Union of India (1995) — Supreme Court again urged the government to secure a uniform civil code under Article 44, in the context of conversion for the purpose of a second marriage.
- Shayara Bano v. Union of India (2017) — Supreme Court declared the practice of instant triple talaq (talaq-e-biddat) unconstitutional; Parliament subsequently criminalised it through a separate statute, illustrating incremental personal-law reform as an alternative to a single uniform code.
- Article 25 guarantees freedom of religion but is expressly "subject to public order, morality, and health, and to the other provisions of this Part" — courts have held that a UCC would not, by itself, violate Article 25.
The current push for state-level UCC laws is being pursued despite the absence of a Supreme Court direction mandating a single central code, following the DPSP route the Court has repeatedly endorsed but never enforced.
- Article 44: Part IV, non-justiciable under Article 37.
- Personal law: Entry 5, Concurrent List (List III), Seventh Schedule — enables both Union and state legislation.
- Uttarakhand UCC: passed February 7, 2024; presidential assent March 11, 2024; in force from January 27, 2025 — first state UCC since independence.
- Goa's common civil code: inherited from Portuguese-era law (1867), continued after Goa's 1961 integration into India.
- Landmark cases referencing Article 44: Shah Bano (1985), Sarla Mudgal (1995), Shayara Bano (2017 — struck down instant triple talaq).
- Stated target for wider state-level UCC rollout referenced in current reports: before 2029.