Karnataka High Court urges Parliament, states to enact Uniform Civil Code

The bench headed by Justice Hanchate Sanjeevkumar made the observation on Friday while looking into the petition in connection with a property dispute among legal heirs of one Abdul Basheer Khan, who passed away without writing a legal will and leaving behind inherited immovable and self-acquired properties.

The bench further ordered, “Therefore, the Registrar General is requested to forward the copy of this judgment to the Principal Law Secretaries of both Union of India and State of Karnataka with a hope that the they will make endeavour in this regard in enacting the legislation on the Uniform Civil Code achieving the object of the Article 44 of the Constitution of India.”

The court opined, “The enactment of legislation on Uniform Civil Code as enshrined under Article 44 of the Constitution of India will achieve the object and aspirations enshrined in the Preamble of the Constitution of India, bring about a true secular democratic republic, unity, integrity of the nation, securing justice, liberty, equality and fraternity.”

The court is of the opinion that its enforcement certainly will give justice to women, achieve equality of status and opportunity for all and accelerate the dream of equality among all women in India, irrespective of caste and religion and also assure dignity, individuality through fraternity, the bench underlined.

The bench further stated, “Therefore, the enactment of a law on Uniform Civil Code will truly achieve the objects of principles enshrined in the Preamble of the Constitution of India. Therefore, the court is of the opinion that it should make every endeavour to enact a statute on Uniform Civil Code.”

“Therefore, the court is of the opinion that it should make a request to the Parliament and State Legislatures to make every endeavour to enact a statute on Uniform Civil Code. It has been informed to the court that some states, Goa and Uttarakhand have already enacted laws on Uniform Civil Code,” the bench stated.

Article 44 of the Indian Constitution, part of the Directive Principles of State Policy, mandates that the state should "endeavour to secure for the citizens a uniform civil code throughout the territory of India”.

Regarding the petition, the court upheld the lower court order and confirmed the entitlement of Shanaz Begum’s share in the three properties. The appeal petition claiming that the properties were not ancestral was not considered. The court also dismissed the cross-objection, seeking to expand the entitlement of properties by Shahnaz.

In a cross-objection plea, one of the heirs, Shanaz Begum, claimed that she was unlawfully excluded from the partition and was not granted a rightful share in the estate and sought enhancement of her share in the properties. Abdul Basheer Khan's two sons had approached the High Court questioning the order of the lower court in the case. The court was hearing both appeal and cross-objection pleas together.