Goa Only State With UCC: Here Are 10 Points From Code That Determine if Its Best Model for Nation

New Delhi: Uttarakhand cabinet gave a nod to Uniform Civil Code on Sunday, paving the way to bring uniformity in the personal laws irrespective of castes and religions. Pushkar Singh Dhami  government has called a special four -day session of the Assembly on Monday to table the legislation. 

A five-member panel; headed by retired judge of the Supreme Court Ranjana Prakash Desai submitted the final draft of 740 pages UCC to Dhami. 

But do you know, it was the state of Goa which was the first in the country to bring UCC in practice. For 163, years, the Portuguese Civil Code is in force in Goa, Daman and Diu. The code was enacted in 1867 and was authored by Viscount Antonio Luis de Seabra 1798-1895) , a High Court Judge

The following ten intriguing aspects of the Goa UCC help assess whether or not it can serve as an ideal model for the country

1) A number of the Code's clauses are no longer in effect as those provisions are covered by Indian law. When certain Indian laws, such as the Transfer of Property Act of 1882 and the Indian Contract Act of 1872, were extended to Goa in 1963–1965, the relevant sections of the Goa's code were automatically repealed. Overall, this means that a significant portion of the legislation is still in place, especially when it comes to succession, family law, and property. In 2019, the Supreme Court correctly declared that the 1867 Portuguese Civil Code was now Indian law.

2)  Only Portuguese citizens are subject to the Portuguese Civil Code; Goans were Portuguese citizens. As a result, it only applies to Goans; that is, to those whose parents', ancestors or they themselves were under its government before December 20, 1961. As a result, the code is focused on Goa citizenship rather than caste or religion. 

Marriage 

3)  The Goa Code is noteworthy due to its provision that the woman owns half of the assets in a marriage.  Both individuals in a marriage must work together to create will if it is necessary.

4)   It is not permitted in a marriage for one co-owner to sell the property without the approval of the other co-owner. 

5)  The Goa Civil Code mandates compulsory registration of marriages before civil authority.

Property

6)  Women already have equal rights to parental property. The code mandates that there should be equal distribution of properties among children irrespective of gender. Notably, Muslim daughters are only entitled to half of the amount that a son receives, but Hindu daughters were granted an equal portion of ancestral property only after the Hindu Succession Act was amended in 2005.

Hindu Men Allowed Bigamy in Exceptional Circumstances 

7)  The code is not strictly uniform. It is different for Hindus and Catholics. 

8)  Hindu men are permitted to commit bigamy with their wives' permission if the latter are unable to have a kid by the age of 25 or a male child by the age of 30. Nevertheless, in the post-colonial era, the provision has not been invoked. 

Provision For Catholics 

9)  Catholics who get a No Objection Certificate (NOC) from the Civil Registrar are able to solemnize their marriages in churches. For other religions, only a civil registration of the marriage is considered as an evidence of marriage. Nonetheless, a Portuguese decree that granted ecclesiastical tribunal decisions in the former Portuguese colony legal sanctity was overturned in part by the Bombay High Court's Goa bench in 2019.

Shariat Act Not Applied On Muslims Residing in Goa 

10) The Goa Civil Code permits a specific kind of polygamy for Hindus, but it does not apply the Shariat Act to Muslims residing in Goa; instead, they are governed by both Shastric Hindu law and Portuguese law.