Having uniform laws on marriage, divorce, succession, adoption and maintenance is a matter for Parliament to decide and not for the courts to determine, the Supreme Court said on Friday, January 6. A three-judge bench headed by Chief Justice of India (CJI) Dhananjaya Y Chandrachud was hearing a clutch of petitions, including the one by Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) leader and lawyer Ashwini Kumar Upadhyay, who filed the petition in 2020 seeking uniform laws on the issue of marriage, divorce, adoption, maintenance and guardianship. “This is a matter for Parliament to decide. We cannot make laws. This falls within Parliament’s sovereignty. We cannot tell the Parliament you shall enact a law,” said the bench also comprising justices PS Narasimha and JB Pardiwala.

In his petition, Upadhyay pointed out the dichotomy that exists between laws applicable to different religions on the issue of marriage, divorce, adoption, maintenance and guardianship. Later, several other petitions were filed, some by Muslim women who were aggrieved by the discriminatory forms of divorce practiced under Muslim personal law.

Senior advocate Huzefa Ahmadi, along with advocate MR Shamshad, appearing for the Muslim Personal Law Board, informed the court that Upadhyay in 2015 had raised similar prayers in a writ petition filed in the top court, which he withdrew. He later filed a petition seeking enforcement of a Uniform Civil Code (UCC) before the Delhi high court which is still pending.

Source: HT