Law Commission runs into 2 legal hurdles on Uniform Civil Code

NEW DELHI: Tasked to examine the feasibility and desirability of a uniform civil code, the Law Commission has come across two major legal issues - the 80-year-old Muslim Personal Law (Shariat) Application Act and a Bombay high court judgment that gave Muslims the freedom to opt for the 1937 Act's provisions which govern marriage rules, including polygamy. The ruling was delivered by Justice M C Chagla who was the first Indian chief justice of the Bombay HC.

Law Commission chairman Justice BS Chauhan said the panel needed to consult a wide cross-section of people, including jurists, to evaluate the relevance of the Muslim Personal Law (Shariat) Application Act, 1937 and the Bombay HC judgment upholding the validity of the Act's provisions on Muslim personal law.

Speaking to TOI, Chauhan said all these matters were before the commission which would take a considered view after reviewing them. Whether an all-party meeting would be convened on the issue has not yet been discussed, he said. "The commission will look into what has been the effect of Section 3 (of the 1937 Act) on Section 2 (application of personal law to Muslims) and how many people have availed of the benefits of Section 2 in writing," Chauhan said.

Section 3 prescribes that a person willing to be governed by Muslim personal law and the provisions of Section 2 on marriage, dissolution of marriage and talaq should declare in a prescribed form before a prescribed authority that he/she wants to obtain the benefits of Section 2 of the Act. Chauhan said the commission was yet to take up the issue of uniform civil code with the full panel and was still in the process of collecting material and judgments. He said the view of the SC, which is currently hearing a petition on triple talaq, will help the commission arrive at a considered view.

The Union government last month referred the issue of implementation of a uniform civil code to the Law Commission for its views before it firms up opinion on the subject. The government has indicated that it is in favour of a uniform civil code but not before engaging in wide consultations with all stakeholders, including an all-party meeting on the issue.

The timing of the request to the Law Commission is important considering the monsoon session of Parliament is to begin shortly and could trigger a debate in the two Houses. The government also has to submit an affidavit to the apex court making its stand clear on the issue.