Law Commission’s Activities Towards Customary and Personal Laws

This topic is in consonance with the ongoing debate on Law Commission’s questionnaire with respect to the abolishment of triple talaq and whether there should be reform and revision of family laws, in order to address social injustice at the same time get done away with plurality of laws governing different communities on the basis of religion. The interference by the commission holds the major objective to address discrimination against vulnerable groups and harmonise various cultural practices.

This well-intentioned move by the law commission is the long overdue exercise to undertake a revision and reform of family laws in line with the constitutional mandate in Article 44 to bring in a uniform civil code and meet the maladjustment faced by certain class of citizens against the core values in our Constitution.

The commission in past has also examined and opined on Hindu and Christian laws, and some of these activities of the commission are as follows:

With respect to the Hindu community

• The 59^th report of the law commission dwelt on the amendments to the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955 and the Special Marriage Act, 1954.
• The 71^st report revisited this issue and the Commission took the view that irretrievable breakdown of marriage constituted a ground for divorce.
• Further in the 73^rd report, the Commission found that criminal liability for failure by husband to pay maintenance granted to the wife by the court.
• Also the 74^th report reviewed the Hindu Widows Remarriage Act, 1856.
• The 83^rd report dealt with the Guardians and Wards Act, 1890, and certain provisions of the Hindu Minority and Guardianship Act, 1956.
• In the 1980s there were many dowry deaths which led to nationwide campaigns for stricter laws to deal with a married woman’s husband, in-laws and other near relatives who harassed her for dowry and indulged in cruelty and barbaric acts like bride burning when her parents failed to meet their demands. This made the law commission focus this issue in the 91^st In it, it recommended amendments to the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955; the Indian Penal Code, 1860; and the Indian Evidence Act, 1872.
• In the 174^threport, the commission examined property rights of women and proposed reforms in Hindu Law.

With respect to the Christian community

• The 15^th report was related to marriage and divorce among Christians in India.
• The 90^th report examined the grounds of divorce amongst Christians and Section 10 of the Indian Divorce Act, 1869.
• The 224^th report of the Commission examined the Divorce Act, 1869, once again and recommended amendment to enable non-domiciled estranged Christian wives to seek divorce.

Examining this, we can observe a pertinent role played by the law commission in other communities and it would be wrong to state that it is specifically targeting Muslim community.  It is the definite need of the hour to bring changes in the Muslim personal laws in order to bring uniformity and do away with injustice especially met out by the women.