It is your life, and the law will change it — so watch this debate. India is passing through a period of great unison in every sphere; so exactly when the BJP-led government is all out to bring in a Uniform Civil Code, the Supreme Court of India also starts questioning the government about the UCC and wonders about varying standards.

Suddenly, the same apex court that once was never tired of reminding us about the diversity of India now uses euphemisms like “same yardsticks in matters of law,” and asks: “There is total confusion… we should work on the Uniform Civil Code. What happened to it? Why don’t you frame and implement it?

A bench of Justices Vikramjit Sen and Shiva Kirti Singh recently virtually reminded us all about the times when a strong leader demanded committed a judiciary. We seem to have reached that point.

Now, the judiciary and the executive are joining hands to tell us that they will decide how we should marry, divorce, decide upon custody of kids, inherit or bestow wealth, and many other questions. And they have a huge hill to hide behind: The Constitution of India, and more specifically its Directive Principles.

First, it was the cow that jumped at us from this Chapter IV of the Constitution and now the UCC is the new holy cow.

The Muslims will rush to see it as an anti-minority design, and they could be right; while the Sikhs will start worrying about Anand Marriage Act. The Goans will wonder what will happen to their apparently more modern laws governing personal lives, and some minorities will start worrying about certain specific/special protections they enjoyed.

But that is not even the debate. The substantial parts are much more serious. And we need to talk about it.

Is there a “total confusion” owing to personal laws governing religious practices, as the Supreme Court said recently? Yes, there is some, as is natural in a country of India’s diversity. The SC’s worry was triggered by a case wherein Christian couples have to wait for at least two years for divorce, whereas this period of separation is one year for other religions. One wonders why it never got confused at the fact that people belonging to one religion can file a different tax return in an undivided family, or Sikhs have to marry under a statute called the Hindu Marriage Act.

One way to fix an aberration is to fix it:  Amend Section 10A (1) of the Divorce Act which states that a petition for dissolution of marriage by mutual consent can be presented before a court only after a judicial separation of two years.

The other is to echo what the BJP wants as its next poll plank: the Uniform Civil Code.

The Sangh Parivar has always been fascinated by the three-pronged agenda — Ram Mandir in Ayodhya, the scrapping of Art 370 and the UCC. Having done the first two, it is on to the third. The UCC is being tested in polls in Himachal Pradesh and Gujarat as an issue, after a similar tactic in Uttarakhand. Some other states will also do it, and then by 2024 big dangal, it will be turned into a clamour for one India, one personal law.

Note the SC’s language: “What happened? Why this cannot be done? You should tell us if you want to do it.” The SC has now asked the Solicitor General to seek the government’s views on the Uniform Civil Code.

In unison, the Gujarat Home Minister Harsh Sanghavi on October 29 had announced the formation of a committee to implement the UCC, months after Uttarakhand formed a committee led by retired Supreme Court judge Justice Ranjana Desai to carry out a similar exercise. Assam is also on the same track.

The Sangh Parivar has always been fascinated by the three-pronged agenda — Ram Mandir in Ayodhya, the scrapping of Art 370 and the UCC. Having done the first two, it is on to the third. The UCC is being tested in polls in Himachal Pradesh and Gujarat as an issue, after a similar tactic in Uttarakhand. Some other states will also do it, and then by 2024 big dangal, it will be turned into a clamour for one India, one personal law.

So, one personal law for the entire country is applicable to all religious communities in their personal matters such as marriage, divorce, inheritance, adoption, etc.

Article 44 of the Indian constitution says, “The state shall endeavour to secure a Uniform Civil Code for the citizens throughout the territory of India.”

We talk about the issue in this debate with Jagmohan Singh, Editor of The World Sikh News, and Arjun Sheoran, an advocate of repute, a long-time civil liberties activist and domain expert. Both the participants have been tracking the subject for decades now. They are in conversation with senior journalist SP Singh.

Engaged readers are further directed to the landmark Minerva Mills judgment (1980) in which the Supreme Court held that the “Indian Constitution is founded on the bedrock of the balance between Parts III (Fundamental Rights) and IV (Directive Principles), ask themselves about the polemic about there being no ‘uniformity’ in personal law, and note that most Indian laws are already uniform in most civil matters — for example, The Indian Contract Act, Civil Procedure Code, Sale of Goods Act, Transfer of Property Act, Partnership Act, Evidence Act, etc.

Also, not all Hindus are governed by one law, nor are all Muslims or all Christians.

When the State comes to attend your marriage or walk you through your divorce or help divide your property, pay very close attention. This is about votes and power for them. It is actually about you.