Comments on: A Case for Unified Civil Code in India

By: Libin Thomas

Libin Thomas — Mon, 25 May 2009 09:05:25 +0000

I cannot comment on what the Indian Constitution says, since I have not read it myself.But I do not believe the implementation of a unified civil code would be appropriate for a country like India.
A)The best characteristic of our country India is its abillity to let different ways of life to coexist. While this is less efficient than an centralized unified code, it helps different groups to retain their cultural identity. For example, if a single code were to be implemented, whose code would that be?
B)We already have a common penal code, now why would we want to encroach into something that would dilute the cultural identity of different communities. For better governance? But at what cost? A (stable) form of government in a country may probably have a lifespan of 500 years, but culture is something that lasts and is expected to last much longer. Overriding the way of life of varied communities to achieve more efficient governance doesn’t feel right to me.
C)There is one scenario when such an objective makes sense – it is when a conquering nation wants to impose its writ and administration over varied subjects. So we have Roman Law, the ‘reforms’ of the Chin dynasty and to some extent British Law. And where this imposition cannot be done smoothly, it may lead to insurgency or civil war – recent case in point being Sri Lanka.
D)It has been said that the only real authority that a government has, is the power of a gun(forgot who said it, could be Ayn Rand). Whatever little moral authority it has comes when it represents the will of the people, i.e when it is a democracy. And the character of a democracy is to accommodate the points of view of different groups of people. So let us try to accommodate, instead of rolling out one single code to govern the civil aspects of human life. I will happily given unto Caesar what belongs to him, but let me keep what is mine.

By: Domestic Avalanche

Domestic Avalanche — Sun, 09 Nov 2008 21:44:12 +0000

Thanks SAF

By: SAF

SAF — Sun, 09 Nov 2008 06:03:50 +0000

I was against unifying civil law. But now, if the law is not unified our women community (specially muslims) will suffer at 99% of their security. Women will be exploited under the existing distributed laws.

By: Abhik

Abhik — Sat, 08 Nov 2008 09:41:42 +0000

high time we do the job required! The common code is long overdue

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[...] far, we have seen what the constitution and the courts say about a common civil code and also seen how it does not target any single [...]

By: Unified Civil Code in India Part III - Who does it affect?

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[...] have seen in the first post that the constitution mandates a unified civil code and then that the courts have always asked the government to step up and fulfill the constitutional [...]

By: Clerrit

Clerrit — Wed, 08 Oct 2008 18:21:09 +0000

‘Unified Civil code’ does make sense!!!

By: Domestic Avalanche

Domestic Avalanche — Wed, 08 Oct 2008 17:26:18 +0000

@SAF

You are right, there are discrepancies in the law like the alimony thing that you have mentioned.

We need to solve that. It does not have to be an infringement of any rights.

For example, according to Catholic Church, people can get married at 16 and 14 respectively, but in India everybody are required by law to be at least 21 and 18 to get married. But it is ok.

Also, it is against the teachings of Quran to consume alcohol, but it is legal. However if you follow the religion, you can abstain from alcohol.

This is the separation that I am talking about. I will discuss that later.

By: Domestic Avalanche

Domestic Avalanche — Wed, 08 Oct 2008 17:22:22 +0000

@Uncle,

I guess the point is that we are all humans first, not chronologically, but existentially.

By: JMJ

JMJ — Wed, 08 Oct 2008 15:49:27 +0000

Guys – I think there is a confusion over the Civil Code.

The definition of Civil Code is:
“A civil code is a systematic compilation of laws designed to comprehensively deal with the core areas of private law. A jurisdiction that has a civil code generally also has a code of civil procedure.”

Thanks to wikipedia! (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Civil_Code)

Like the famous saying goes “your freedom ends at the edge of my nose” Well the civil code try’s to define this edge.

We believe that the law is blind – ie – the law does not know rich and poor – powerful or not ….now how come the law is taking a peak at the persons religion and culture?

By modeling a law around a religion or community – is the law not trying to play favoritism? Just for example: after Divorce the man from the Muslim community does not have to pay anything… well if a man from another religion divorces his wife – he has to pay. So the best solution is to convert to Islam before applying for divorce….there you go a big gaping hole in the law.

The civil code is a law that protects a person as a human being and has nothing to do with religion or culture.

Talking about the practicality of a unified civil code for India – I do agree that it is going to be difficult. But then – it has to start somewhere…otherwise tomorrow we will have a situation were once the unified civil code has been implemented, certain sections of the society will start demanding reservations as they were deprived of some of the facilities. And we already know how bad the reservation system is…

Once the woman’s reservation bill is passed; more than 50% of our parliamentarians would have come in through the reservation system. (20% of the backward class and 30% of women)

I am sure that none of us want such a situation…we all want to be treated equally – no matter what our religion or our culture says.

Just for example – if we start implementing what our religion/culture says – Muslims will be stoned to death, Christians will be forgiven, I have no Idea what will happen to the rest of the people…

Then the solution? First we need to separate religion from everything else (we Indians seem to be mixing any thing and every thing with religion) Once that separation is done we need to have a healthy debate as to what you mean by personal freedom (how long you can stretch your nose). Then we need to model our civil code around a person being a human being and not as a hindu/muslim/christian…