Article 44 is a provision within the Directive Principles of State Policy (DPSP), found in Part IV of the Constitution of India. It states: "The State shall endeavour to secure for the citizens a uniform civil code throughout the territory of India". The concept was debated as Draft Article 35 in the Constituent Assembly on November 23, 1948, and was adopted without amendment, placing it as an aspirational goal rather than an immediately enforceable right. The framers, including Dr. B.R. Ambedkar, envisioned the Uniform Civil Code (UCC) as a means to promote social reform, ensure gender equality, and strengthen national integration by replacing diverse personal laws with a common set of civil laws.
The mechanism of the UCC involves creating a single, consistent set of laws governing personal matters like marriage, divorce, inheritance, adoption, and succession for all citizens, regardless of their religious affiliation. Currently, these matters are governed by religion-specific personal laws, such as the Hindu Marriage Act or Muslim Personal Law. Since Article 44 is a DPSP, it is non-justiciable, meaning it cannot be enforced by courts, but it serves as a fundamental guideline for the State in law-making.
Article 44 connects directly to the fundamental right of Equality Before Law under Article 14 and the constitutional goal of secularism, as it seeks to eliminate legal disparities based on religion. Judicial pronouncements have repeatedly highlighted the need for its implementation, notably in cases like Mohd. Ahmed Khan vs. Shah Bano Begum (1985) and Sarla Mudgal vs. Union of India (1995), where the Supreme Court expressed regret that Article 44 remained a "dead letter".
While the UCC has not been implemented nationwide, the state of Goa has had a form of common civil code since its liberation in 1961, based on the Portuguese Civil Code of 1867. More recently, the Uniform Civil Code of Uttarakhand Act, 2024, became the first UCC to be enacted by a state legislature in independent India. This Act unifies laws on marriage, divorce, succession, and live-in relationships for residents of Uttarakhand, though it exempts tribal communities. The Uttarakhand Act aims to ensure equal inheritance rights for sons and daughters and mandates compulsory registration of marriages.