"BJP-Ruled States Pursue Uniform Civil Code Ahead of Central Legislation"
Directive Principles of State Policy (DPSPs)
Constitutional directives in Part IV, non-justiciable but fundamental to governance.
Concurrent List
Schedule VII list of subjects on which both Parliament and state legislatures can legislate.
The Uniform Civil Code is constitutionally anchored in Article 44, a Directive Principle of State Policy under Part IV of the Constitution. It directs the State to secure a uniform civil code for all citizens throughout India. Directive Principles are non-justiciable, no court can compel their enforcement, but they are constitutionally significant as governance goals. Historically, civil matters such as marriage, divorce, inheritance, adoption, and maintenance have been governed by religion-specific personal laws: the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955, the Muslim Personal Law (Shariat) Application Act, 1937, and the Indian Christian Marriage Act, 1872, among others. This parallel legal architecture was inherited from colonial-era codification.
Legislative competence over marriage and divorce rests in Entry 5 of the Concurrent List (Seventh Schedule). Both Parliament and state legislatures can legislate on these subjects. Under Article 254, a state law that is repugnant to a central law on a Concurrent List subject is void to the extent of the repugnancy, unless the state law has received Presidential assent, in which case it prevails in that state. The Special Marriage Act, 1954 already provides a religion-neutral, opt-in framework for marriage and divorce. It is the closest existing approximation of a secular civil code at the national level.
A critical constitutional constraint on any UCC, central or state, is the protection afforded to tribal communities. The Fifth Schedule of the Constitution protects the rights and customary practices of Scheduled Tribes in designated areas, preventing the transfer of tribal land and preserving customary law. Article 13 further ensures that laws inconsistent with Fundamental Rights are void. The Supreme Court has periodically urged Parliament to enact a UCC, most notably in Mohd. Ahmed Khan v. Shah Bano Begum (1985) and Sarla Mudgal v. Union of India (1995), but has also recognised that personal law reform must navigate the tension between Article 44 (uniformity) and Articles 25–28 (freedom of religion and the right to manage religious affairs).
Four BJP-ruled states have now passed UCC legislation:
A defining feature of all four codes is the exemption of Scheduled Tribes. Uttarakhand also exempts certain communities protected by constitutional customary-law provisions. This exemption is not incidental, it reflects the constitutional reality that tribal communities in states like Uttarakhand, Chhattisgarh, and the Northeast have deeply distinct customary practices that are protected under the Fifth Schedule and related constitutional provisions. …
If a particular area is brought under the Fifth Schedule of the Constitution of India, which one of the following statements best reflects the consequence of it?
Consider the following statements regarding the constitutional framework for a Uniform Civil Code in India:
1.Article 44 is a Directive Principle of State Policy and cannot be enforced by any court.
2.Under Article 254, a state law on a Concurrent List subject is automatically void if it is inconsistent with a central law on the same subject.
3.The Supreme Court first urged Parliament to enact a UCC in the Shah Bano case (1985).
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
With reference to the Uniform Civil Code (UCC) legislation enacted by Indian states, consider the following statements:
1.Uttarakhand was the first state to bring a UCC into force.
2.All four states that have passed UCC legislation exempt Scheduled Tribes from its provisions.
3.Marriage and divorce fall under the Union List, which is why Presidential assent is required for state UCC laws.
4.The Special Marriage Act, 1954 provides a religion-neutral opt-in framework for marriage and is the closest existing national approximation of a UCC.
How many of the above statements are correct?
With reference to the legislative competence of Indian states to enact a Uniform Civil Code, which one of the following statements is correct?
Assertion (A): All four Indian states that have enacted Uniform Civil Code legislation have exempted Scheduled Tribes from its provisions.
Reason (R): The Fifth Schedule of the Constitution protects the customary rights and practices of Scheduled Tribes in designated areas, making a blanket application of uniform civil rules constitutionally problematic.
Which of the following correctly matches the state with a distinctive feature of its Uniform Civil Code legislation?
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