India News | UCC's Aim to Promote Harmony, Secularism: Allahabad HC Judge

Prayagraj, Dec 9 (PTI) The main aim of the Uniform Civil Code is to promote social harmony, gender equality and secularism, Allahabad High Court Judge Dr Shekhar Yadav has said at a VHP function.

The judge made the remarks on Sunday while addressing a provincial convention of the Legal Cell and High Court Unit of the Vishva Hindu Parishad in Allahabad High Court.

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A day later, videos of the judge speaking on provocative issues, including the law working according to the majority, were circulated widely, triggering a strong reaction from various opposition parties which questioned his reported statements and labelled them hate speech.

"The main objective of the Uniform Civil Code is to promote social harmony, gender equality and secularism by eliminating unequal legal systems based on different religions and communities," he said, according to a release issued by the VHP.

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"A Uniform Civil Code refers to a common law that applies to all religious communities in personal matters such as marriage, inheritance, divorce, adoption etc," he said.

"The aim of the Uniform Civil Code is to replace various personal laws that currently govern personal matters within different religious communities. Its goal is to ensure uniformity of laws not only between communities but also within a community," the judge added.

AIMIM president Asaduddin Owaisi in a post on X quoted from 'Restatement of Values of Judicial Life,' a code of ethics adopted by the Supreme Court, to say that a judge must "not enter into public debate or express his views in public on political matters or on matters that are pending or are likely to arise for judicial determination."

He quoted further, "Every judge must at all times be conscious that he is under the public gaze and there should be no act or omission by him which is unbecoming of the high office he occupies and the public esteem in which that office is held."

Samajwadi Party leader Ramgopal Yadav dragged the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, the ideological fountainhead of the BJP, into the row sparked by the high court judge's remarks.

"RSS has always been like that, they can do anything to get to the Supreme Court," he said, but did not elaborate further.

Communist Party of India (Marxist) leader Brinda Karat on Monday wrote to Chief Justice of India Sanjiv Khanna stating that the speech made by the Allahabad High Court judge is a violation of his oath, and said there should be "no place for such persons in a court of justice."

"Judges take their oath on the Constitution of India. This speech is a violation of that oath. This speech is a hate speech," she said.

Karat sought action from the apex court on the issue.

"Such a member brings disgrace to the bench, to the court, to the judicial system as a whole. There can and should be no place for such persons in a court of justice," she said.

"The country would no doubt be grateful for action from the highest court on this issue," she said.

The politician, in her letter, used a pejorative word allegedly used by the Judge, and quoted him at length.

"I have no hesitation in stating that this is Hindustan, and this country will function according to the wishes of the majority living here. This is the law. It is not about speaking as a High Court Judge; rather, the law operates in accordance with the bahusankyak (majority)," she quoted Justice Yadav as saying at the conference.

On Sunday, at the event, the chief guest, VHP national co-convener Abhishek Atrey, talked about the Waqf Amendment Act and the need for Indians to stay united.

"Bangladesh looks like another Kashmir. We all have to stay united to protect our identity," he said.

Allahabad HC senior advocate V P Srivastava shared his experience on the topic 'Conversion - Causes and Prevention.'

On March 13 this year, President Droupadi Murmu gave her assent to the Uniform Civil Code Bill, passed by the Uttarakhand Assembly on February 7, making it the first state in the country after Independence to adopt the UCC.

On December 6, the Centre rejected suggestions that it had issued guidelines to states to implement a UCC.

Union Law Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal, in a written response to a question in the Lok Sabha, asserted, "No such guidelines were issued by the Government of India to state governments for implementing the uniform civil code."

A consultation paper issued on August 31, 2018, the 21st Law Commission, headed by Justice (retired) B S Chauhan, said the diversity of India's culture can and should be celebrated, and specific groups or weaker sections of the society must not be "dis-privileged" in the process.

The commission said it had dealt with the laws that were discriminatory rather than providing a uniform civil code, "Which is neither necessary nor desirable at this stage."

The paper said most countries are now moving towards recognition of difference, and the mere existence of difference does not imply discrimination but is indicative of a robust democracy.

A uniform civil code in India has been a key agenda of successive election manifestos of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party.

Justice Shekhar Yadav was in the news earlier over the observations he made during a case.

In a case of cow slaughter in September 2021, he had said, "Cow should be declared the national animal and cow protection should be kept in the fundamental rights of Hindus because when the culture and faith of the country is hurt, the country becomes weak."

He had termed the cow to have an important place in Indian culture.

"The great importance of cow has been shown in Indian Vedas, Puranas, Ramayana etc. For this reason, cow is the basis of our culture.

"It is not that only Hindus have understood the importance of cow. Muslims also considered cow as an important part of Indian culture and Muslim rulers had banned the slaughter of cows during their rule," he had observed.

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