Law panel urges reforms to family law instead of uniform civil code

The law commission has said a “uniform civil code is neither necessary nor desirable at this stage”, advocating instead a range of piecemeal reforms in family laws of all faiths to make them non-discriminatory, especially from a gender point of view.

In a key paper made public Friday, the law commission broadly took the stance that personal laws , which govern matters such as marriage, adoption and inheritance, need not be made uniform or eliminated but must be reformed to root out conflicts with the Constitution.

“In the absence of any consensus on a uniform civil code, the Commission felt that the best way forward may be to preserve the diversity of personal laws but at the same time ensure that personal laws do not contradict fundamental rights guaranteed under the Constitution of India,” the law panel said.

The law panel’s paper came on the back of a reference made to it by the law ministry on June 17, 2016, to “examine matters in relation to uniform civil code”.

The Constitution, under the non-binding Article 44, enjoins the state to “secure” for its citizens a “uniform civil code”.

Currently Muslims, Christians, Parsis, Hindus and Jews and certain tribes follow different family and customary laws.

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