Pages

Tuesday, June 3, 2014

Uniform Civil Code of India


Article 44 of the Directive Principles in India sets the implementation of a uniform civil code throughout the country as duty of the State

Uniform civil code in India is the debate to replace the Personal Laws based on the scriptures and customs of each major Religious Community in India , with a common set governing every citizen.

These laws are distinguished from public law and cover - Marriage, Divorce, Inheritance, Adoption and Maintenance

Uniform Civil Code became one of the most controversial topics in contemporary politics during the Shah Bano Case in 1985. In this case, a divorced Muslim woman sought maintenance from her husband.

The Shah Bano case resulted in her being granted maintenance under the All India Criminal Code.
Amidst the political debate that followed,the Muslim Women(Protection of Rights on Divorce)Act 1986 was passed, which exempted Muslims from the Criminal Code—a setback to family law uniformity

Shah Bano(73) sought maintenance from her husband, Muhammad Ahmad Khan. He had divorced her after 40 years of marriage by triple Talaaq(saying "I divorce thee" three times) and denied her regular maintenance; this sort of unilateral divorce was permitted under the Muslim Personal Law. She was initially granted maintenance by the verdict of a local court in 1980. Khan, a lawyer himself, challenged this decision, taking it to the SC, saying that he had fulfilled all his obligations under Islamic law. The Supreme court absolved her in 1985 under the "maintenance of wives, children and parents" provision (Section 125) of the All India Criminal Code,which applied to all citizens irrespective of religion. It further recommended that a uniform civil code be set up. Besides her case, two other Muslim women had previously received maintenance under the Criminal code in 1979 and 1980

No comments:

Post a Comment