PIL For Uniform Civil Code Not Maintainable, No Direction Can Be Made To Parliament To Frame UCC: Union Law Ministry Tells Supreme Court

"A writ of Mandamus cannot be issued to the legislature to enact a particular legislation. This is a matter of policy for the elected representatives of the people to decide and no direction in this regard can be issued by the Court. It is for the legislature to enact or not to enact a piece of legislation."

Article 44 of the Indian Constitution is a directive principle requiring State to endeavor to secure Uniform Civil Code for all the citizens.

The Ministry said that the purpose behind Article 44 is to strengthen the object of "Secular Democratic Republic" as enshrined in the Preamble of the Constitution. This provision is provided to effect integration of India by bringing communities on the common platform on matters which are at present governed by diverse personal laws. Thus, in view of the importance and sensitivity of the subject matter, in-depth study of various personal laws is required.

The Ministry assured the Court that it is conscious of the matter and that the 21^st Law Commission undertook detailed examination of the same by inviting representations from several stakeholders.

However, since the said Commission's term ended in August 2018, the matter will be placed before the 22^nd Commission.

"As and when the Report of Law Commission in the matter is received, the Government would examine the same in consultation with the various stakeholders involved in the matter," it added.

Six PILs before the Supreme Court- four by Ashwini Upadhyay, one petition filed by Lubna Qureshi and another petition filed by Doris Martin, seek enactment of UCC.

According to the petitioners, UCC has always been seen as a spectacle of religious appeasement, and while the Supreme Court or High Court cannot ask the Government to implement Article 44 of the Constitution but can direct the Centre to constitute a committee to prepare a draft of Uniform Civil Code.

Similar pleas seeking UCC are also pending before the Delhi High Court. The Centre had filed an affidavit before the High Court earlier this year, claiming that implementation of the Uniform Civil Code, a directive principle under the Constitution, is a matter of public policy and that no direction in this regard can be issued by the Court.

Case Title: Ashwini Kumar Upadhyay v. Union of India & Ors.