Exclusive Hint at Badruddin Ajmal’s Lok Sabha Bill

Badruddin Ajmal provided The Hindu with an exclusive peek at the bill he proposes to publish in the Lok Sabha -

The scheme we need to follow to solve the pertinent question:

1. Draft a UCC.
2. Decide cases of personal law in the following manner:
   1. Ask each of the parties what law system they would like to follow
   2. If there is a unanimous consensus on a particular law system, use it. If not, use the UCC.

This system will preserve the freedom of religion as well as uphold the fundamental rights of everyone, including women and minorities. Example illustrating point ii) Suppose there is a personal law case pertaining to marriage. Then each of the parties in the case must choose between

1. The Hindu Marriage Act, 1955
2. The Indian Christian Marriage Act, 1872
3. The Parsi Marriage and Divorce Act of 1936
4. Muslim Marriage Act
5. Any other religious laws
6. The Uniform Civil Code, 2022

If ALL the parties are in agreement on one of these options, then the agreed upon law should be the law used to decide the case.

Else The Uniform Civil Code, 2022 shall be used.

The MP proposes drafting a UCC, then debating over each and every law in personal laws with representation from all political parties, and if a unanimous decision is not achieved, a suitable clause from the UCC draft shall be implemented across India.

However, the proposed bill neither specifies the contents of the UCC, nor does it hint upon the members that will be a part of the drafting committee.

Moreover, the cause of accommodating each and every minority in India, including women, hasn’t been discussed in the draft we received.

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