The Delhi High Court has declined to hear a batch of petitions that sought directions to the Central government to enact a Uniform Civil Code (UCC) for India. The court stated that it could not direct the legislature to enact a law on this issue and that the Supreme Court had already dealt with and rejected the petitions.
The bench of Acting Chief Justice Manmohan and Justice Mini Pushkarna further stated that the Law Commission of India is already seized of the matter, and the petitioners are at liberty to approach the commission with their suggestions. BJP leader Ashwini Upadhyay and others, including Nighat Abbas and Amber Zaid, withdrew their pleas. Upadhyay's 2019 petition sought a UCC for the country after considering the best practices of all religions, sects, civil laws of developed countries, and international conventions.
The Central government sought dismissal of the petition, stating that a UCC can only be introduced after a comprehensive study of various personal laws governing different communities and cannot be done in three months based on court orders.
The Law Ministry said in an affidavit filed by it that, under the Constitutional scheme, only the parliament can undertake such a task, and a court cannot issue a writ to the legislature to enact a particular legislation. The Court stated that the Supreme Court's order on the issue is clear and categorical, and the High Court will not go beyond the Supreme Court's order.
The UCC has been a contentious issue in India, with arguments for and against it. The UCC aims to replace the personal laws of different religions with a common set of laws governing every citizen of India.
However, the implementation of a UCC requires a comprehensive study of the personal laws of different communities to ensure that they are adequately represented. While some argue that a UCC is necessary to ensure gender equality and national integration, others argue that it would infringe on the minority's religious freedom.
