Karnataka High Court advocates Uniform Civil Code, asks Centre and states to make laws

The Karnataka High Court has requested Parliament and state legislatures to collaborate in enforcing the Uniform Civil Code (UCC) across the country. The High Court emphasized its significance in preserving the vision of equality under the Constitution, secularism, and justice for all citizens, particularly women.

One judge bench of Justice Sanjeev Kumar delivered this appeal while delivering a judgment on a civil appeal of a property issue between the husband and brothers of Muslim woman Shahnaz Begum who passed away. This case has raised questions regarding succession laws based on religion-governed personal law and their effect on gender justice.

Justice Kumar on Friday said that the implementation of the Uniform Civil Code under Article 44 of the Constitution will fulfill the ideals enshrined in the Preamble i.e. justice, liberty, equality, fraternity, and national unity. The country needs a Uniform Civil Code for personal laws and religion. Only then will the objective of Article 14 of the Constitution of India be achieved.

The court emphasized that although women across India are equal citizens under the Constitution. But they are treated unequally due to religion-based personal laws. The bench compared the rights of inheritance under Hindu and Muslim Personal Law to clarify this inequality. While Hindu law gives equal rights to daughters in ancestral property, Muslim Personal Law distinguishes between brothers and sisters. It gives the status of sharers to brothers.

On the other hand, the sister has the right to get a share as a residuary, but not as a sharer. Noting that states like Goa and Uttarakhand have already enacted the Uniform Civil Code, the court directed the Registrar General to send a copy of the judgment to the Principal Law Secretaries of the Central Government and the Karnataka Government to initiate legislative efforts towards enacting such a code.