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VOL. 12, ISSUE 3 (2026)
Faith on the Scales of Justice: The Indian Judiciary's Role in Mediating the Personal Law–Uniform Civil Code Conflict
Authors
Payel Chowdhury, Dr. Ananya Ghosal
Abstract
The debate over a Uniform Civil Code (UCC) in
India represents one of the most enduring constitutional tensions in the
country's post-independence history, pitting the promise of equal citizenship
against the guarantee of religious and cultural autonomy. Article 44 of the
Constitution directs the State to endeavour to secure a uniform civil code, yet
more than seven decades later this directive remains substantially unrealised,
leaving the judiciary to mediate disputes that arise at the fault line between personal
laws and constitutional guarantees of equality, dignity and non-discrimination.
This paper undertakes a doctrinal and analytical examination of the Indian
judiciary's evolving jurisprudence on the personal law–UCC conflict, tracing
its trajectory from the early restraint of State of Bombay v. Narasu Appa
Mali through the reformist interventions of the Shah Bano, Sarla Mudgal and
Lily Thomas line of cases, to the constitutional morality reasoning deployed in
Shayara Bano, Joseph Shine and the Sabarimala litigation. The research problem
addressed is whether, and to what extent, judicial intervention has functioned
as an effective substitute for legislative action in advancing the
constitutional vision underlying Article 44, or whether it has instead produced
an inconsistent and fragmented jurisprudence that exposes the limits of
adjudication as a tool of social transformation. Adopting a doctrinal
methodology supplemented by analytical and comparative perspectives, the paper
examines the constitutional framework governing personal laws, the doctrines of
constitutional morality and essential religious practices, and recent
developments including the Uttarakhand Uniform Civil Code and successive Law
Commission reports. The paper finds that the judiciary has functioned less as
an architect of uniformity than as a constitutional mediator, incrementally
advancing gender justice while consistently deferring the choice of a
comprehensive civil code to the legislature. It concludes that durable reform
requires a collaborative constitutional approach combining judicial
interpretation, legislative action and sustained public dialogue.
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Pages:370-376
How to cite this article:
Payel Chowdhury, Dr. Ananya Ghosal "Faith on the Scales of Justice: The Indian Judiciary's Role in Mediating the Personal Law–Uniform Civil Code Conflict". International Journal of Law, Vol 12, Issue 3, 2026, Pages 370-376
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