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Abstract
India being a multicultural and multi religious country and it has adopted the concept of secularism in the preamble of the constitution in its 42nd amendment. The term secular means that the State will not follow any particular religion and neither will the people be discriminated because of the religion that they follow. Family law is the set of personal law that govern disputes on Marriage, Divorce, Successions, Adoption, Guardianship and etc. The Family law differs for Christians, Hindu, Muslim, etc., and they have separate civil code governing them. For ex Hindu Marriage Act, Christian Marriage Act etc., There is also no uniform civil code, which is a great flaw in the system. The constitution of India guarantees the right to equality[1]. This constitutional guarantee of equality is silent in the perspective of the family law. As India being a patriarchal society, the personal laws have been inclined towards the men. This leads to the question of gender inequality in the existing personal laws existing in India. The personal laws in India have put women behind men and have given very less rights for women comparing to men. This clearly indicates the need for the reform in the gender just law. There is also an existing difference in the regulation of the family laws and also this leads to the need for the Uniform Code for the regulation of the civil code which will be a regulating statute for all the religions in India. Uniform Civil Code as an institution would help in bridging the discrepancies in the existing family laws. Only Indian region to follow the Uniform Civil Code is Goa. It has its own code known as The Goa Civil Code. This was a code formed by the Portuguese Rulers and was left to be followed even after the joining of Goa to the Indian territories because of the request from the people.[2] So this type of Uniform code is needed for the secular states like India. In India, nearly, half of the population consists of women who suffer from patriarchy which is supported by tradition, religion and culture.
[1] Article 14 in The Constitution Of India 1949 Equality before law The State shall not deny to any person equality before the law or the equal protection of the laws within the territory of India Prohibition of discrimination on grounds of religion, race, caste, sex or place of birth.
[2]Carmo D’Souza,“Family Laws of Goa – Research and Reforms”, available on http://www.fd.ulisboa.pt/wpcontent/uploads/2014/12/Souza-Carmo-Family-Laws-of-Goa-Research-And-Reforms.pdf (last accessed on 26 August , 2019)