Article 44 of the Constitution of India postulates that the “State shall endeavour to secure for the citizens a uniform civil code [UCC]”. As late as 2017, the 21st Law Commission of India opined that a UCC is “neither necessary nor desirable at this stage”.
The present law commission is in the process of public consultation to formulate a UCC that justifies a debate on it. However, any public dialogue on UCC often turns into an occasion to bash and overbear minorities. A la Justice Shekhar Yadav of Allahabad High Court, this is taken to a new level of rabid communal incendiary.
For the real flavour of debate, let us take marriage and divorce. In Hindu law, a marriage is a sacred tie for janm janmantar (for many rebirths). In Shastric Hindu law, there was no concept of divorce. It was introduced only in 1956 for the first time, that too on limited grounds.
