“UCC: Completing Ambedkar’s constitutional promise”, Firstpost, 16 Sep 2026.
“There is a simple question India must ask itself in 2026: if equality is a constitutional promise, why should the law governing the most intimate aspects of a citizen’s life depend upon the community into which that citizen is born?
I am reminded of a remarkable moment in the Constituent Assembly. When the proposal for a Uniform Civil Code was debated, the objection was raised that India was too vast and diverse for one civil code. Dr BR Ambedkar’s response was characteristically constitutional: India already possessed a common body of law covering almost every aspect of civil life — contracts, transfer of property, and much else besides. The one area where uniformity had not yet penetrated, he observed, was marriage and succession — what he called the “little corner” civil law had not yet entered.
But Ambedkar was also pragmatic. He understood that constitutional transformation requires social legitimacy and explained that the provision did not require the State to impose a code upon every citizen overnight. This was not a retreat from principle. It was Ambedkar’s characteristic combination of constitutional ambition and institutional prudence.
Article 44 is not an accident
Article 44 of the Constitution states: “The State shall endeavour to secure for the citizens a uniform civil code throughout the territory of India.” These words were not inserted casually. They emerged from an extensive Constituent Assembly debate in November 1948 on Draft Article 35, later renumbered Article 44…………”
Read the full article at Firstpost.
