Personal laws

Also called: Family laws · Topic: Secularism: Western and Indian Models · NCERT: Class 10, Ch 3 "Gender, Religion and Caste"; Class 11, Ch 8 "Secularism"

Meaning

Personal laws are family laws that differ by religion. They cover marriage, divorce, inheritance (who gets family property after a death), and adoption and guardianship.

They matter because family law is the main area where Indian citizens are still governed by different rules based on religion. Criminal law, contract law and tax law are the same for everyone. So personal laws are the hardest test of Indian secularism. They also sit at the centre of the debate on a Uniform Civil Code (UCC).

Explanation

What personal laws cover and who follows which law

• Four areas: marriage, divorce, inheritance, and adoption and guardianship.
• Hindus: the four Acts of the 1950s, together called the Hindu Code. For these Acts, "Hindu" also covers Sikhs, Jains and Buddhists.
• Muslims: Shariat (Islamic law) applies to family matters under the 1937 Act. A 1939 Act lists the grounds on which a Muslim woman can get a divorce through a court.
• Christians and Parsis: each has its own separate Act. The Christian laws date from the colonial period.
• The civil option: under the Special Marriage Act 1954, any two persons of any religion can have a non-religious marriage before a Marriage Officer.
• Goa: follows one family law for all Goans, the Portuguese-era civil code of 1867.

NCERT's dilemma: two ways to see personal laws

• View 1: personal laws protect community rights.
• They protect a minority's way of life (Articles 25–30 protect religious freedom and minority cultural rights).

• They shield a minority from inter-religious domination, where a bigger religious group controls a smaller one.

• View 2: personal laws can be unfair.

• They can allow intra-religious domination, where some members of the same religion control others. In family law, men often control women.

• Many personal-law rules treat women unequally in divorce, maintenance and property. This clashes with Article 14 (equality before law) and Article 15 (no discrimination on grounds of sex).

• Class 10 view (women's movement): the family laws of all religions discriminate against women, not just one community's laws. So women's groups have asked for all family laws to be made fairer.

Why this tests Indian secularism, and NCERT's answer

• Western secularism keeps a strict wall between state and religion. So the state does not touch religious family rules.
• Indian secularism follows principled distance. The state either keeps away from religion or steps in, depending on which choice better protects freedom and equality.
• NCERT's goal: reform personal laws so that minority rights and gender equality both survive. Neither is given up for the other.
• What reform should NOT be:
• forced by the state from above;
• forced by a religious group's leaders on its own members;

• blocked by a state that stays completely away and lets unfair practices continue.

• The middle path: the state as a facilitator. The state supports liberal and democratic voices within each religion, such as women's groups and reformers. Change then comes from inside the community and is not imposed from outside.

Limits: where uniformity cannot easily reach

• Sixth Schedule: autonomous district councils (local tribal bodies with their own law-making powers) in Assam, Meghalaya, Tripura and Mizoram can make laws on marriage, divorce and inheritance for tribal communities.
• Article 371A (Nagaland) and Article 371G (Mizoram): an Act of Parliament on religious or social practices, customary law, or land ownership and transfer applies there only if the state Assembly agrees by resolution.
• This is why even the Uttarakhand UCC Act leaves out Scheduled Tribes [2][3].

In the Constitution and practice

• Article 44 is a Directive Principle of State Policy (DPSP). DPSPs are goals in Part IV that the government should work towards, but no court can force it to act on them. The article says: "The State shall endeavour to secure for the citizens a uniform civil code throughout the territory of India."
• The Hindu Code (1955–56): the Hindu Marriage Act 1955, Hindu Succession Act 1956, Hindu Minority and Guardianship Act 1956 and Hindu Adoptions and Maintenance Act 1956. Parliament passed them after the Hindu Code Bill debate.
• Hindu Succession (Amendment) Act 2005: daughters became coparceners. A coparcener is a joint heir who has a share in family property by birth, as sons always had.

• Vineeta Sharma v. Rakesh Sharma (2020): a daughter has this right by birth, even if her father died before 2005.

• Maintenance cases. Maintenance is money a husband must pay to support a wife or ex-wife who cannot support herself.

• Section 125 CrPC 1973 is a religion-neutral rule that applies to every wife, including a divorced wife. From 1 July 2024 it is section 144 of the BNSS 2023.
• Shah Bano (1985): a Constitution Bench held that a divorced Muslim woman could claim maintenance under s. 125. The Court also urged the state to work towards a UCC.
• Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Divorce) Act 1986: passed after the political reaction to Shah Bano. Many read it as limiting the woman's claim to the iddat period (the waiting period of about three months after divorce).
• Danial Latifi (2001): the Court upheld the 1986 Act but read it to help women. Within the iddat period, the husband must make a "reasonable and fair provision" for the woman's future, and this can cover her whole life after divorce.

• Mohd. Abdul Samad v. State of Telangana (10 July 2024): both judges held that the 1986 Act does not bar a divorced Muslim woman from claiming under s. 125 CrPC. The s. 125 remedy is always available, whatever the personal law [7].

• Triple talaq.

• Shayara Bano (2017): the Supreme Court set aside talaq-e-biddat (instant triple talaq) by a 3:2 majority. Under this practice a husband ends the marriage at once by saying "talaq" three times.

• Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Marriage) Act 2019: made instant triple talaq void and a punishable offence.

• Law Commission.

• The 21st Law Commission's paper of 31 August 2018 looked at reform across all personal laws [5]. It said a UCC is "neither necessary nor desirable at this stage" and that each personal law should be reformed from within to remove discrimination.

• The 22nd Law Commission issued a public notice on 14 June 2023 asking for views by 28 July 2023 [4]. It invited views from the public and recognised religious organisations [6].

• Uttarakhand Uniform Civil Code Act 2024 (Act No. 3 of 2024).

• The President gave assent on 11 March 2024 [2]. Family law is in the Concurrent List, so a state law that differs from a central law needs the President's assent to prevail in that state (Article 254(2)).
• It came into force on 27 January 2025. It is the first state UCC since Independence.
• It overrides personal laws on marriage and divorce [3]. It covers residents of Uttarakhand who live outside the state, and it excludes Scheduled Tribes [2][3].
• Marriages and live-in relationships must be registered. If a live-in partner is under 21, the partner's parents must be informed. Children of live-in partners are legitimate, and a woman deserted by a live-in partner can claim maintenance [2]. Polygamy and halala are banned.

Don't confuse with

• Uniform Civil Code: personal laws are many family laws, one for each religion. A UCC would replace them with one set of family laws for all citizens (Article 44).
• "Common" civil code: a common code sets a shared minimum of equal rights that every family law must meet, and some differences can remain. A uniform code means one identical law for everyone.
• Special Marriage Act 1954: this is not a personal law. It is an optional civil marriage law open to any two persons, including inter-faith couples.
• Inter-religious vs intra-religious domination: personal laws protect against the first (a bigger group controlling a smaller group). They can enable the second (men controlling women within the same religion).

Prelims Hooks

• Article 44 is a DPSP in Part IV, not a Fundamental Right. Courts cannot enforce it.
• Shah Bano (1985) → 1986 Act → Danial Latifi (2001) → Abdul Samad (10 July 2024): divorced Muslim women can claim maintenance under s. 125 CrPC, now s. 144 BNSS [7].
• Shayara Bano (2017) set aside instant triple talaq by a 3:2 majority. The 2019 Act made it a punishable offence.
• Hindu Succession (Amendment) Act 2005 made daughters coparceners. Vineeta Sharma (2020) held that the right exists by birth.
• Goa's civil code dates from 1867 (Portuguese era). Uttarakhand UCC Act 2024 received assent on 11 March 2024, came into force on 27 January 2025, and excludes Scheduled Tribes [2][3].
• Trap: Articles 371A and 371G protect customary law in Nagaland and Mizoram, not Manipur or Sikkim.

Mains Points

• Principled distance in practice. NCERT's "state as facilitator" model avoids both forcing change and doing nothing. Reform supported from within lasts longer and looks less like majority imposition. Two examples: the Hindu Code of the 1950s, and Shayara Bano, a case brought by a Muslim woman.
• A common floor instead of a uniform code. The line of cases from Shah Bano to Danial Latifi to Abdul Samad (2024) used a religion-neutral rule (s. 125 CrPC / s. 144 BNSS) to secure gender justice without abolishing personal law [7]. This matches the 2018 Law Commission's advice: equality within communities before uniformity across them [5].
• Federalism, tribal autonomy and privacy. The Uttarakhand Act 2024 shows the UCC debate now moving through state laws. But it had to exempt Scheduled Tribes, which shows the limits set by the Sixth Schedule and Articles 371A/371G [2]. Its live-in rules protect women and children [2]. Critics ask whether compulsory registration, with notice to parents, fits the right to privacy (K.S. Puttaswamy, 2017) and adults' right to choose a partner.

Read more

• Personal laws, reform and the uniform civil code