The 80-year-old Muslim Personal Law (Shariat) Application Act and a Bombay high court judgment that gave Muslims the freedom to opt for the 1937 Act’s provisions which govern marriage rules, including polygamy were the two legal hurdles faced by the Law Commission on the feasibility and desirability of a uniform civil code.The ruling was delivered by Justice M C Chagla who was the first Indian chief justice of the Bombay High Court.
According to the report, justice Chagla said that, panel needed to consult a wide cross-section of people, including jurists, to evaluate the relevance of the Muslim Personal Law (Shariat) Application Act, 1937 and the Bombay HC judgment upholding the validity of the Act’s provisions on Muslim personal law.
The matters are before the commission for the review and weather an all party meeting will be convened, has not been decided yet. The commission will look into what has been the effect of Section 3 (of the 1937 Act) on Section 2 (application of personal law to Muslims) and how many people have availed of the benefits of Section 2 in writing, says the report.
As per the present commission laws, Section 3 prescribes that a person willing to be governed by Muslim personal law and the provisions of Section 2 on marriage, dissolution of marriage and talaq should declare in a prescribed form before a prescribed authority that he/she wants to obtain the benefits of Section 2 of the Act.
The Justice has also said that the issue of Uniform Civil Code has not been settled for the judgement. According to him the views of Supreme Court will help the commission arrive at a considered view.
This issue was referred earlier by Union Government to the Law Commission for the implementation of the Uniform Civil Code, before any opinion. The government has indicated that it is in favour of a uniform civil code but not before a proper engaged meeting with the stakeholders including alll party meeting.
The request to the Law Commission is important as it can trigger a debate between two houses in the coming monsoon session of Parliament .
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