The BJP government in Uttarakhand has introduced the Common Civil Code bill that is likely to be enacted as a law. Uttarakhand will become the first state in the post-Independence era to implement Common Civil Code. This would be a trailblazer for the rest of the states ruled by the BJP. It is also going to put pressure on the Opposition-ruled states as this law is primarily aimed at undoing the injustice inflicted upon a large number of women and children due to discrimination in matrimonial and inheritance rights in the absence of common civil code.

There are several misconceptions about this law that need to be removed as the debate on this issue is likely to intensify in the days to come.

Thus, on the basis of the Directive Principles of State Policy, Preamble and Fundamental Rights in the Constitution, citizens cannot be deprived of ‘Common Civil Code’.

The Common Civil Code will not have any impact on the customs and traditions of any religion or sect. In Uttarakhand, it puts no restriction on ‘nikaah’ among Muslims, ‘anand karaj’ among Sikhs, ‘phera in front of fire’ among Hindus and ‘holy matrimony’ among Christians. People can follow marital customs as per their beliefs.

The Common Civil Code will not have any impact on the customs and traditions of any tribe in the country as provisions have been made for their protection in the country. The laws for religious and cultural protection of tribes are as follows:

After independence, the Hindu Code Bill was brought. It has four acts: Hindu Marriage Act, 1955; Hindu Adoptions and Maintenance Act, 1956; Hindu Minority and Guardianship Act, 1956; Hindu Succession Act, 1956. These enactments continue to prevail as a law. Section 2 of these statutes has provisions for their application. However, sub-section (2) of section 2, excludes its application to the members of the scheduled tribe within the meaning of clause (25) of Article 366 of the Constitution unless the central government directs so. The tribal population in India would continue to be governed by its customs.

The Common Civil Code in Uttarakhand also follows these provisions and, hence, it would have no impact on the arrangements made in the Constitution for the protection of the customs and traditions of the tribal population.

Most of the members of the sub-committee on Fundamental Rights in the Constituent Assembly had proposed the early implementation of the Common Civil Code. Committee members – MR Masani, Hansa Mehta and Rajkumari Amrit Kaur said, “We are of the view that a common civil code should be guaranteed to the Indian people within a period of 5 or 10 years in the same manner as the right to free and compulsory primary education has been guaranteed by clause 23 within 10 years.” (B Shiva Rao, The Framing of India’s Constitution, Volume II, p 177)

(The writer is an author and columnist and has written several books. His X handle is @ArunAnandLive. Views expressed in the above piece are personal and solely that of the author. They do not necessarily reflect News18’s views)