Twelveth Valedictory Lectures organizes
On
“Uniform Civil Code and Dr. Ambedkar in Constituent Assembly Debate”
As part of Monthly Lecture Series on “The Making of the Constitution of India: Exploring the Role of Dr. B.R. Ambedkar” the 12th Valedictory Lecture on “Uniform Civil Code and Dr. Ambedkar in Constituent Assembly Debate” was organized by Dr. Ambedkar Chair in Moot Court Hall, Sardar Patel Subharti Institute of Law, SVSU on 31.08.2024 at 11.30 AM onwards.
The Lecture was delivered by Dr. Prem Chandra, Associate Professor; Faculty of Law.Total 91 participants attended the Lecture in the Moot Court Hall, Sardar Patel Subharti Institute of Law, SVSU. The main focus of the lecture delivered by Dr. Prem Chandra was Uniform Civil Code and the role of Dr. Ambedkar in Constituent Assembly Debate. He said that uniform civil code means having a common law for all citizens of the country that is not based on religion.It means that personal laws and laws related to inheritance, marriage, adoption, guardianship and succession are likely to be covered by a common code. Article 44 under the Directive Principles of State Policy states that States shall endeavor to secure for the citizens a uniform civil code throughout the territory of India. The Constituent Assembly of India debated the inclusion of a Uniform Civil Code (UCC) in the Constitution in 1948. He said that during the debate in the constitution assembly the proponents of UCC argued the UCC would unify the country and eliminate discrimination. While opponents, particularly Muslim members, felt it would infringe on their religious freedom and minority rights. The Muslim members of the Assembly took a lead in this debate and proposed amendments which aimed to do two things. First, introduce provisions to Draft Article 35 such that personal laws are kept out of its scope and second operationalize the uniform civil code only with the prior assent of the community in question. KM Munshi supported the UCC during his argument. After that Dr. B.R. Ambedkar entered into the debate and argued that there was nothing new about the Uniform Civil Code. There already existed a Common Civil Code in the country except for the areas of marriage, inheritance which are the main targets for the Uniform Civil Code in the Draft Constitution. He reminded that the Uniform Civil Code was only optional. By virtue of it being in the Directive Principles, the state is not obliged to immediately bring the provision into effect. It can do so when it wishes to do so. Responding to the initial amendments proposed in the debate, Ambedkar argued that the provision allowed future legislatures to legislate such that the UCC comes into effect only after the consent of communities was obtained. After debate, the Constituent Assembly adopted the article 35 of the draft as the same and it was later re-numbered as Article 44 of the Constitution of India. After the Lecture, a quiz having 20 questions was circulated to the students for their feedback.
