Uniform Civil Code: An Emerging Law from the Existing Law Trends on Adoption, Custody and Guardianship

India is a land of diverse people with diverse religions. However, if the diversity of religion turns into a national legal problem to govern the people regarding different subject matters, there must be a serious consideration to check and reform the existing laws which have a significant role in the current modern world. The term ‘secular’ was added in the Preamble after the 42ndConstitutional Amendment in 1976 which meant that the state will not follow any particular religion. Additionally, people have the freedom to follow any religion they want. However, it must be pondered that India is a secular country but does not have secular laws. Every religion is governed by separate personal laws, for example, Hindus, Sikhs, Jains, and Buddhists are administrated by the Hindu Marriage Act of 1956, the Hindu Adoption and Maintenance act of 1956 and, The Hindu Minority and Guardianship Act of 1956. Similarly, Christians and Muslims are governed by Christian laws and Islamic laws respectively. Now the problems posed by these separate laws are very deep and diverse. There are many discrepancies and differences among all the personal laws. There is no uniformity among the laws. This paper would analyse the broader question of why we need the Uniform Civil Code (hereinafter UCC) in place of personal laws. While discussing marriage, succession, guardianship, adoption, and inheritance, women are usually regarded as inferior to their male counterparts in most personal laws.