Saturday, 03 February 2024 | PNS | DEHRADUN
Expressing happiness on the decision of Uttarakhand government on bringing Uniform Civil Code (UCC), noted advocate Ashwini Upadhyaya has said that UCC is the soul of our constitution. Upadhyaya who was the first person to file a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) in the Supreme Court on UCC said that regionalism, sectarianism, fundamentalism and fanaticism will be removed from the country by the implementation of UCC. Interacting with The Pioneer, Upadhyaya popularly known as PIL Man of India said that it is wrong to link the prevailing social malpractices with religion.
He said that Article 14 of the constitution propounds equality for all, Article 15 prohibits discrimination on the basis of caste, religion, language and birth place and Article 19 gives right to every citizen to go, reside and get employment in all parts of the country. It is clear that equality, uniformity, equal rights and equal opportunities to all are the soul of the constitution. Upadhyaya said that some people protest UCC on the grounds that Article 25 provides religious freedom but they are misleading the public since this Article starts with “subject to public order, health and morality” which means that any malpractice, discrimination and hypocrisy is not protected. Upadhyaya added that Indian Penal Code of 1860, Police Act of 1961, Evidence Act and Civil Procedure Code are equally applicable on the people of the country but no effort was made for a common civil code.
He said that the UCC will remove the malpractice of polygamy prevalent among Muslims. There is a need to increase the minimum age of marriage of girls of all religions in the country to 21 years. Upadhyaya said that Talaq e Hasan and Talaq e Ahasan are still being practiced despite a ban imposed on Teen Talaq. Such practices create an environment of fear in the minds of Muslim women and only UCC will remove this fear, he added.
