SETTLING THE CIVIL CODE
Article 44 of the constitution of India reads:"The State shall endeavor to secure for the citizens a Uniform Civil Code throughout the territory of India."
History
Ø During the majority period of the British Rule, there was no attempt to replace the personal laws of various sects and religions with a common civil code.
Ø As far as the British attitude was concerned, the colonial state's role was restricted to adjudicating between different interpretations of religious laws.
Ø But during the last years of their rule the British had belatedly initiated the framing of a Uniform Code for the Hindus.
Ø This sought to reconcile the prescriptions of the two principal schools of law- the Mitakshara and the Dayabhaga, and their numerous local variations.
Ø In 1941, a committee chaired by Sir B.N .Rau, had been set up which toured India, soliciting a wide spectrum of Hindu opinion on the changes they proposed .
Ø In spite of interruptions by the war, the committee had prepared a draft of a personal law code to be applied to all the Hindus.
Ø In 1948,the Constituent Assembly formed a "Select Committee " to review the draft of a new Hindu code.
The code drafted by the Rau committee was revised by Ambedkar himself and then subjected to several close readings of the Select Committee.
Why were the Hindus singled out?
Ø The Hindus were singled out because there was a vigorous reform movement among them and they were the largest community. Modernist Hindus had campaigned strongly for laws that would make caste irrelevant and enhance the rights of women.
Ø But such moves were obviously opposed by influential orthodox section.
Hindu Code Bill
The Hindu Code Bill was to apply to Sikhs, Buddhists and Jains as well as all the Hindu castes and sects. The codification had a dual purpose:
v To elevate the rights and status of Hindu women.
v To do away with the disparities and divisions of caste.
Feature of Hindu Code Bill
v The awarding, to the widow and daughter, of the same share as the son's in the property of a man dying intestate (if a man dies without a proper will). Likewise, a Hindu woman's estate, previously limited, was now made absolute, to be disposed of as she wished.
v The granting of maintenance to the wife who chose to live separately from the husband if he had a loathsome disease , was cruel to her, took to concubine ,etc.
v Abolition of the rules of caste and sub caste in sanctifying a marriage. All marriages between Hindus would have the same sacramental as well as legal status, regardless of the castes to which the spouses belonged. An interstate marriage could now be solemnized in accordance with the customs and rites of either party.
v Allowing either party (partners) to file for and obtain divorce on certain grounds, such as cruelty, infidelity , incurable disease etc.
v Making monogamy mandatory.
v Allowing for the adoption of children belonging to different caste.
Reactions to the Hindu Code Bill
Liberal Reactions:
Feminist scholars were to argue that they did not go far enough, that they exempted agricultural properties from their provisions or that the advantages conferred on female heirs by the new laws were greater in the case of self acquired property as compared to property that was inherited.
Orthodox Reactions
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| An old clipping from the Tribune |
Ø According to them, the main body of Hindu law conferred on the son a much larger share on his father's property as compared to the wife and the daughter.
Ø According to them, marriage was considered a sacrament and hence in dissoluble.
Ø They also claimed that the man was allowed to take more than one wife and that marriage was governed strictly by the rules of caste.
Other Criticisms
Ø Stalwarts like Rajendra Prasad argued that the bill was highly discriminatory if it applied to only the Hindus predominantly.
Ø Either the same laws governing marriage and property should be applied to all Indians or else the existing customary laws of different communities should be left untouched.
Ø Rajendra Prasad's demand was an attempt to spoil the passage of the Code Bill as a main community not covered by the bill i.e. the Muslims would never agree to the Bill.
Ø Muslim members had already expressed their opposition to any tampering with their personal code, which they believed to be the "revealed word of Allah himself".
Passage of the Bill
After November 1949, the Constituent Assembly made way for a provisional Parliament (acted as one) until the general elections which were to be held in 1951-52.
Ø Throughout 1950 and 1951, Nehru and Ambedkar made several attempts to get the Hindu Code Bill passed.
Ø But the progress of the Bill in the provisional parliament was painfully slow.
Ø An immense number of objections and amendments had been tabled. In the end of the session, the bill was virtually talked out, and it lapsed.
Ø As a reaction Ambedkar resigned from the Union Cabinet and he founded his own Scheduled Caste Federation.
Finally the Hindu Code Bill was passed into law, not in one go , but in several installments as the Hindu Marriage Act of 1955 and the Hindu Succession ,Minority and Guardianship and Adoptions and Maintenance Acts of 1956.
