‘Adultery must be ground for divorce under Muslim law’

NEW DELHI: While not favouring a uniform civil code , the Law Commission has suggested significant changes in family and personal laws such as “no fault” divorce in an irretrievable breakdown of marriage , a uniform age of marriage , making adultery ground for divorce in Muslim law, and a stricter ban on child marriage .With UCC suffering from a lack of consensus, the commission has called for amendments in existing family laws and codification in aspects of personal law that aim for gender equality “within communities” rather than seeking the more contentious parity “between communities”.Short of making its final recommendation on the much-awaited UCC, the commission’s 185-page consultation paper sought to strike a balance between freedom of religion and right to equality, arguing that while women must be guaranteed religious rights, there should be no compromise on equality.After reviewing more than 75,000 responses during its two-year-long deliberations, the commission said UCC was “neither necessary nor desirable at this stage” but went on to note that social evils like Sati, slavery, devdasi, dowry, triple talaq and child marriage have taken refuge in religious customs.To this end, the commission said adultery should be a ground for divorce under Muslim law, men and women should have the same age of marriage, nikahnamas should ban polygamy, adults of either gender should be allowed to adopt children of either sex and children born out of wedlock must be given inheritance rights.The commission said the best way forward was to preserve diversity of personal laws even while ensuring they didn’t contradict fundamental rights guaranteed under the Constitution.In June 2016, the NDA government had referred UCC to the Law Commission and sought its recommendations. The issue has been part of BJP’s election manifesto for long even though it has often de-emphasised it in coalitions. This time, its Lok Sabha majority encouraged it to seek a detailed view from the commission.“This commission has dealt with laws that are discriminatory rather than providing a uniform civil code…” the consultation paper said. To address inequality, the law panel suggested amendments to family laws to limit ambiguity in interpretation.The commission said recognising different ages of marriage between consenting men and women must be abolished and suggested that the age of majority, 18 years, be the uniform legal age for marriage.In the matter of divorce, the panel suggested a new ground of “no fault” divorce where irretrievable breakdown of marriage was a legitimate ground with provision for alimony and maintenance. Under Muslim law, adultery is not recognised as a ground for divorce.