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Former Supreme Court judge Justice Sanjay Karol on Wednesday stated that the Uniform Civil Code (UCC) is the need of the hour to uniformise the law, acknowledging that while there can be differing views on the subject, a central civil code should be there.
He was addressing the gathering at the National Legal Dialogue on Article 44 and UCC. The dialogue was organised by an organisation named Bharat Collective Foundation. Justice Karol also hailed the State of Bihar for its social bonding and for its secularism, saying, " If you want to see secularism or Article 44, you must visit Bihar. Every community worships on Chhat Pooja irrespective of their caste." He also emphasised the need for having a centralised Uniform Civil Code. He said that a uniform civil code is for the entire country. He further questioned whether states with diversity can implement the law, asserting only the centre can make central legislation on the matter. During the program, Rajya Sabha MP Sujeet Kumar, Chairman, Parliamentary Standing Committee on Personnel, Public Grievances, Law and Justice, also shared his views on the UCC. Among other dignitaries, Manu Gaur, member of the UCC drafting and rule-making committee, Uttarakhand, addressing the gathering on the Uniform Civil Code, also shared his views. Uttarakhand has enacted the UCC. He said, "We may have different religions, but after independence we are all Indian. The British used religion and caste to rule India by the principle of divide and rule." He also said that the British introduced Sharia law to divide Muslims from Hindus as part of their policy of divide and rule. Gaur said that marriage is a sanskar in Hindus; it is a contract in other religions. A contract can be broken, but not the sanskar. During his address, he referred to the case of Shah Bano and Saurabh Bano to assert the need of UCC, saying that before these cases, the rights of Muslim women were not known. "These cases were filed by the Muslim women of Uttarakhand. A petition against the Halala Practice is also pending," he said. Romy Chacko, Senior Advocate, Supreme Court, addressed the gathering. He said that passing of UCC by different states will not work, as it will be made in accordance with the social and customary circumstances of the particular states. People may bypass the law by changing their place of residence. The program was conducted by senior advocate Kirti Uppal, who said that before the Hindu Marriage Act 1955, there was no limit on how many times a Hindu person could get married and have many wives. "This practice was really a big problem faced in those days. This Act laid down that a person is not allowed to commit bigamy or polygamy," he said. (ANI)
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