Uniform Civil Code

 Why is it in the news?

1. Uttarakhand officially implemented the uniform civil code for all residents of the state on 27th January, 2025 except scheduled tribes and natives who have migrated out of the state. Thus, Uttarakhand has become the first Indian State to implement the UCC after independence as mandated by the constitution of India under article 44. Goa already had a common civil code in India. Several BJP ruled states like Haryana, Assam, Madhya Pradesh and Gujarat have constituted committees to enforce uniform civil code in near future. 

2. The Act bans practices like Halala, Iddat and Talaq. It ensures that women are given equal rights in matters related to property and inheritance. 

3. According to the provision of UCC in Uttrakhand, all those people who have got married since March,26,2010, will have to be registered in the government portal within the six months. Marriages that have taken place after the implementation of the law should be registered within 60 days from the date of marriage. Similarly, live-in-relationship established before and after the implementation of UCC will have to be registered within one month from the date of implementation of the UCC.  

4. If the woman becomes pregnant during the live-in, then it is mandatory to inform the government within 30 days of the birth of the child. The UCC also mandates that a landlord cannot deny a house to any couple whose live-in registration is done. Thus, It mandates online registration of marriages, divorces and live-in relationships. A government portal has been formed for this purpose. People can access records, register complaints and also upload their will on the portal.  The government claims that the UCC will bring equality and harmony. It also hopes that the stream of equality emanating from Uttrakhand will irrigate the entire country in the future. 

What is Uniform Civil Code?

1. UCC refers to replacing personal laws based on religious scriptures and customs with a common set of rules governing every citizen. These laws cover marriage, adoption, inheritance, divorce and maintenance governed by respective religious scriptures. 

2.  Under article 44 of our constitution Uniform Civil Code has been put under the directive principle of state policy. The provision states that the state shall endeavour to secure a UCC for all citizens throughout the territory of India. 

3. It is suggested that UCC would lead to equality, gender justice , promote national integration, eliminate complexities of different personal laws and modernise civil laws as per the needs of the contemporary society. 

4. Detractors give the following arguments against UCC : - 

• It would infringe the religious freedom guaranteed by the constitution of India under article 25, whereby every citizen is entitled to propagate, profess and practise his own religion. 

• India has cultural diversity. Different communities have different customs and traditions. Even among tribals, the customs and traditions of North Eastern Tribes are quite different from that of tribals living in Central India. 

• Different religious communities have resisted the implementation of UCC in India, alleging that it would compromise their religious freedom. 

• Political parties except, BJP, dither to implement UCC lest they get alienated from minorities. 

Difference between Uniform Civil Code and Common Civil Code

1. UCC stands for uniform laws for all citizens irrespective of their religious affiliations. It is secular and universal. It is rigid and uniform for all communities.

Common Civil Code on the other hand does not necessarily mandate complete uniformity. 

2. It can allow for some degree of flexibility. It allows diversities while seeking harmony. Thus, it gives special consideration to customs and traditions. 

The present position of UCC in the different countries of the world.

Most of the western countries like the United States, Canada, France, Germany, Australia have UCC. Islamic countries like Turkey, Tunisia, Indonesia, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and other Central Asian Republics have adopted UCC. While other Muslim countries have still clung to Sharia laws.  

Historical Background 

The UCC was fairly discussed in the constituent assembly.  No unanimity among its members could be arrived at. Both Jawaharlal Nehru, Dr. Ambedkar, K M Munshi and women members were in favour of the binding implementation of UCC but the Muslim and Christian members vehemently protested against making UCC as enforceable by law.  Thus, a compromise was arrived at for want of consensus and it was put under Directive Principle of State Policy under article 44. 

Why has the uniform civil code not been implemented in India despite a constitutional mandate?

1. The fear of losing religious identity among minorities.

2. Political parties refrained from implementing UCC due to fear of backlash from minorities during the election.

3. Apprehension of social unrest by minorities.

4. Lack of consensus among majority and minority communities. 

5. Lack of awareness with regard to UCC.

6. Diversity and plurality of Indian society makes the UCC unfeasible. 

7. Encroachment upon the right to minorities under article 29 and 30 of our constitution.

The Way out 

UCC can be implemented by making consensus among all stakeholders. It requires gradual rather than drastic implementations. Moreover, citizens should be educated with regard to the benefits of the UCC. But the customs and traditions of tribal and other vulnerable communities must not be interfered with through the UCC.   

Why did Sultan Mohammad Tughlaq fail miserably as a ruler?

 1. Sultan Mohammad Tughlaq was a widely read person. He was well- versed in History, Theology, Mathematics and Persian. No Sultan before and after him was so educated as he was. But he was impatient and acted in haste. He did not give enough time to his project to be implemented efficiently, with the result that most of his experiments/projects failed. These failures sapped the vitality of the Sultanate. The final nail in the coffin of the Sultanate was struck by Taimur Lang in 1398. Taimur looted and plundered Delhi, massacred its people and took away thousands of cattle, artisans, valuable goods with him to his capital,Samarkand. 

2. The Sultan annexed the entire South India. But it could not be administered properly from Delhi for want of proper communication in those days. In 1327, he made Devgiri as his second capital to control South India. A road was built to connect Delhi with Devgiri, renamed Daulatabad. Trees were planted on either side of the road. Sarais or halting places were constructed every two miles (1 mile = 1.6 km).  Nobles, Sufi Saints and people from Delhi were exhorted to shift to Daulatabad. They were provided lands and residential places. But the experiment failed miserably. It came out that as South India could not be controlled from Delhi, so North India could not be controlled and administered from Daulatabad, a town situated 1500 km away from Delhi. Thus, the experiment was shelved in 1333, after a gap of six years. But, the experiment caused heavy casualties of people and loss of wealth. A large number of people died of exhaustion because the experiment was carried on in the summer season. Secondly, those nobles or landed gentry settled at Daulatabad got homesick. They did not like the surroundings of Daulatabad. Moreover, the locals resisted them. So, some of the nobles returned to Delhi while others perished enroute. Although the experiment failed miserably, it led to the commingling of Hindu and Islamic cultures.  Islam hitherto restricted to North India, penetrated into Deccan and South India. The exodus of muslim theologians, sufi saints, military officers, nobles and landed gentry to Deccan led to the establishment of Bahmani Kingdom in 1347. Secondly, the commingling of Persian and Hindavi gave rise to a new language called Urdu. While Hindavi provided sub structure (base), the Persian provided super structure (Persian Vocabulary) to Urdu. In later years, Urdu proliferated to North India. And it is now the lingua franca of Pakistan. While in the states of UP,Bihar, Jharkhand, West Bengal, Jammu & Kashmir, Delhi and Telangana, it is the additional official language. 

3. Introduction of token currency - The Sultan introduced token currency in the sultanate. Thus, the face value of a copper coin was put at par with a silver coin. In modern times, almost all countries have adopted token currency. But in those days it was very new for the people in the sultanate. It is suggested that the Sultan took this measure because there was paucity of silver metal. Earlier, the Chinese emperors and Kublai Khan had also experimented with token currency. But the token currency in India introduced by Mohammad Tughlaq failed miserably because the Sultanate did not take sufficient measures to check the counterfeiting of coins. The administration failed to stop the imitation of token currency. People started hoarding gold and silver and paying taxes in counterfeiting currency. This led to the decline of trade and commerce and the overall economy of the sultanate. The sultan was forced to withdraw token currency. He ordered the genuine token currency of copper to be exchanged by silver coins. This experiment further put a heavy burden upon the exchequer of the sultanate.

4. The sultan tried to curb the power and influence of Ulema who had controlled the religious and judiciary department. He ordered that the monopoly of Ulema must be dismantled and all those people who were meritorious should get access to the judiciary, religious and ecclesiastical department. This infuriated the Ulema, theologians and orthodox elements in the Sultanate and therefore, started lobbying against the Sultan. But when the sultanate witnessed a series of revolts in the second half of his reign, the sultan was forced to make compromises with the orthodox elements of the sultanate. He invited Giasuddin, a distant relative of Khalifa and bestowed upon him respect and huge gifts. Similarly, most of the Ulemas and their descendants were restored to their original positions in the judiciary, religious, educational and ecclesiastical department. 

5.Similarly, the Sultan expanded the base of nobility by recruiting not only foreign Muslims but also native Muslims. Hindus were also recruited in the nobility. Thus, instead of hereditary, the merit found utmost importance. The liberality of the Sultan was very much detested by the orthodox elements and foreign Muslims. The cohesiveness of the nobility was completely torn asunder. 

6.The Sultan embarked upon agrarian reforms in Doab. An agricultural department called Diwan-e-Kohi was established to help farmers with Taqavi loans, seeds and implements. But because of the sudden outbreak of famine in Doab, the agrarian reform failed miserably. Moreover, the land was not measured before fixing the land revenue as was done by Allauddin Khilji. The land revenue was fixed as high as half of the produce. The outcome was that most of the farmers abandoned farming and fled to the jungles. 

7. The Sultan recruited 3 lakh 70 thousand soldiers and paid them a salary of one year in advance. The purpose was to capture Khurasan in central Asia. But on account of the changing scenario in central Asia, the project was shelved. This caused a heavy economic burden on the exchequer. Similarly, the expedition to Qarajal, situated in the foothills of Himalayas, proved a disaster. Almost all 10,000 soldiers perished in the hilly terrain.

8. The Sultan failed to check on revolt one after another revolt in his vast sultanate. Thus, Bengal liberated itself from the sultanate. In South India, Harihar and Bukka established Vijay Nagar kingdom in 1336. In Deccan, Hasan Gangu, a foreign Muslim, established independent Bahamani Kingdom in 1347. In Rajputana, Hamir Dev declared independence and defeated the sultanate army at Sugoli in 1336. Thus, in the second half of his reign, the Sultan kept on quelling one revolt after another revolt and died at Thatta in 1351 while subduing the revolt in Sindh. 

9. To conclude, several historians like Elphinstone and  V A Smith accused Mohammad Tughlaq of insanity or a mixture of opposites but this is not true. Most of his experiments were ahead of his time. Moreover, they lacked the force of proper implementation. The Sultan was in haste and was hot headed. He left most of his experiments in the middle without going for a final conclusion. Moreover, he lacked a sense of proportion so much so that he could not discriminate between the serious and trivial crime and so awarded harsh punishment disproportionate to the gravity of the crime. The nobility, the Ulema, the regional warlords, the foreign Muslims were always in the lookout to undermine the position of Sultan. These were the reasons for the failure of Sultan Mohammad Tughlaq.  However, the credit goes to the Sultan that he valiantly fought against Mongols and defeated them. In spite of so many revolts, the sultanate was saved from crumbling.