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| Sunday, December 14, 2003 |
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| Sunday, December 14, 2003 |
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Uniform Civil Code–A
Mirage?
Like a true lawyer, he makes out his case by letting facts speak for themselves. He builds his argument around the Constituent Assembly debates and has reproduced extensively excerpts of the debates undertaken by the Minorities Committee. Dr Raju also delves into the historical background of Indian society and the existence of various schools of personal law with in a broader religious framework to suggest that plurality of personal law has been the norm rather than the exception even in the past. He gives instances of various rulers, both Hindu and Muslim, who refrained from imposing any sort of uniform civil code on their subjects. The very existence of Dayabhaga and Mitakshara branches of Hindu Personal Law even today, according to him, bears testimony to the pluralism that has been fundamental to Indian society. A chapter is dedicated to the judicial interpretation of the Directive Principle. A whole line of judgments starting from the Bombay High Court case of Narasu Appa Mali (1952) to the recent judgment of the Hon’ble Chief Justice of India have been reviewed by the author to bring to the fore the vacillating stance of the courts. The author has reproduced excerpts of these cases. Some of the more important cases have been reproduced verbatim in part II of the book. The feasibility of a uniform civil code for our country has been debated ad nauseam, yet it continues to be a hot topic and seems to evoke passionate and extreme reactions from the general public, political parties and the judiciary. There is little understanding of the implications of a uniform civil code both in the general masses as well as in the political circles, irrespective of what their stand maybe. This book has taken the debate to a higher level beyond political and religious agendas. The book emphasises the need for interpreting Article 44 in the light of the larger constitutional scheme and in tune with basic human values. It is argued that Legal Pluralism is the bedrock of the Indian Constitution and is the only way to go about the business of sustaining a united India. Multi-ethnicity and multiculturalism should be seen in a positive perspective. Article 14 of the Constitution is itself the finest argument in favour of Legal Pluralism. Right to equality to all people irrespective of their religion, caste creed etc. is endorsement of plurality as well as of its legitimacy. Dr Raju has fervently argued that Article 44 is not a dictate to eradicate personal laws. In his own words, "In our Constitutional Scheme, there need not necessarily be any contradiction between the uniformity of a civil code that protects individual rights and the diversity of personal laws that protect minority rights`85 the Indian Constitution has accepted the challenge of a most modern experiment with the vision that difference would be recognised and valued rather than denigrated or eradicated." There are some glaring printing and typographical errors in the book. The formatting lacks finesse. Some arguments seem to lack flow and finish abruptly. |
DR
M.P. Raju in his book Uniform Civil Code—A Mirage? takes up the
unenviable task of articulating what perhaps was the intent of the
Constituent Assembly when it inserted Article 44 in the Constitution.
The Article reads as follows: "The State shall endeavor to secure
for its citizens a uniform civil code throughout the territory of
India." On its own reading the Article seems to emphasise the need
to replace personal laws of all religions with one uniform civil code as
is the norm in "civilized societies". Dr Raju on the other
hand suggests that this perhaps is too simplistic an interpretation to
be attributed to the authors of the Constitution.