"How the Constituent Assembly Debated the Uniform Civil Code"
Directive Principles of State Policy
Part IV goals guiding the State, not enforceable by courts but fundamental in governance.
Article 44
Constitutional directive to secure a Uniform Civil Code across India.
Article 44 of the Constitution directs the State to "endeavour to secure for the citizens a uniform civil code throughout the territory of India." It sits in Part IV among the Directive Principles of State Policy (DPSPs). Article 37 clarifies the legal status of this entire part: DPSPs "shall not be enforceable by any court," yet they are "nevertheless fundamental in the governance of the country," and it is the duty of the State to apply them while making laws. This dual character, morally binding but judicially unenforceable, is exactly why Article 44 has remained an aspiration for over seven decades rather than a legislated code.
The provision was debated in the Constituent Assembly on 23 November 1948, when the House took up what was then Draft Article 35. The debate sat at the intersection of two competing constitutional values: the individual and community right to freedom of religion, then framed as Draft Article 19 and now Article 25, and the State's aspiration to build a unified secular legal order across religious communities. This tension between Article 44 and Articles 25-28 has never been fully resolved, and it continues to shape every subsequent UCC discussion, including recent state-level attempts such as Uttarakhand's civil code.
Several Muslim League members, including Mohammad Ismail Khan, B Pocker, Naziruddin Ahmad, Mahboob Ali Baig, and Syed Hussain Imam, opposed the provision, arguing that personal law on marriage, inheritance, and divorce was inseparable from religious practice and that a secular state should not compel uniformity. Congress members including K M Munshi and Alladi Krishnaswami Ayyar argued the opposite: that succession and inheritance were secular social relations wrongly treated as religious, and that a common code would consolidate national unity without being an act of majoritarian tyranny.
The opponents' central argument rested on continuity and religious liberty. They pointed out that even 175 years of British rule had not touched core personal laws, and that Muslim communities had governed succession and marriage through their own jurisprudence for centuries. Naziruddin Ahmad argued reform must be "gradual" and should "progress with the advance of time," rather than being imposed by the State all at once. Mahboob Ali Baig went further, contending that "Civil Code" itself should not be read to include strictly personal religious law.
The supporters countered on two grounds. First, K M Munshi argued that where a religious practice touches a secular activity, such as inheritance, Parliament was already empowered to legislate on it without violating the fundamental right to religion, since the Assembly had accepted this principle for social reform and social welfare measures elsewhere in the Constitution. …
According to the Constitution of India, which of the following are fundamental for the governance of the country?
The ideal of 'Welfare State' in the Indian Constitution is enshrined in its
Consider the following statements about the Directive Principles of State Policy (DPSPs):
1.They are contained in Part IV of the Constitution.
2.They are enforceable by courts of law.
3.Article 37 declares them fundamental in the governance of the country.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
Which article of the Constitution declares that the Directive Principles of State Policy, though not enforceable by any court, are nevertheless fundamental in the governance of the country?
Which of the following statements about the constitutional treatment of the Uniform Civil Code is/are correct?
1.Article 44 falls under the Directive Principles of State Policy, in Part IV of the Constitution.
2.Personal law is placed exclusively in the Union List, giving only Parliament power to legislate on it.
3.The Constituent Assembly debate on the UCC provision took place on 23 November 1948.
Select the correct answer using the code below.
According to Dr B R Ambedkar's clarification during the Constituent Assembly debate on the Uniform Civil Code, which of the following best reflects his position?
With reference to the Constituent Assembly debate on the Uniform Civil Code (23 November 1948), match List I (Member) with List II (Position taken):
List I:
1.K M Munshi
2.Naziruddin Ahmad
3.Alladi Krishnaswami Ayyar
4.Mohammad Ismail Khan
List II:
A.Opposed UCC, arguing it interfered with freedom of religion
B.Supported UCC, arguing personal law provisions on inheritance were secular, not religious
C.Supported UCC, describing its aim as reaching a common measure of agreement
D.Opposed UCC, arguing a secular State should not interfere with community personal law
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