Supreme Court calls for common civil code >From Indo-Asian News Service
New Delhi, July 23 (IANS) The Supreme Court Wednesday called for "a common civil code" in India while striking down a law that does not allow a Christian to bequeath property for charitable purposes if he has close relatives. A three-judge bench comprising Chief Justice V.N. Khare and judges S.B. Sinha and A.R. Lakshmanan observed: "A common civil code will help the cause of national integration by removing a contradiction based on ideology." The bench made this observation while declaring as unconstitutional section 118 of the Indian Succession Act, according to which a Christian cannot bequeath his property for religion and charitable purposes if he has close relatives, including a nephew or niece. This section also stipulated that a will for religious purposes has to be executed within 12 months prior to the death of the person. The bench held that the section was discriminatory as no such restriction was imposed either on Hindus or Muslims. It observed that the provision violated Article 14 of the constitution that grants the right to equality. The bench regretted that even after 50 years of independence Article 44 of the constitution, which calls for a uniform civil code, has not been given effect to. The bench was of the view that matters like marriage and succession could not be brought within the ambit of Article 25 and 26 of the constitution that provide the right to profess and preach a religion of one's choice. The bench allowed a writ petition filed by a Christian priest, John Vallamattom, a Roman Catholic, challenging the constitutional validity of this section. --Indo-Asian News Service ########################################################################## # Send submissions for Goanet to [EMAIL PROTECTED] # # PLEASE remember to stay on-topic (related to Goa), and avoid top-posts # # More details on Goanet at http://joingoanet.shorturl.com/ # # Please keep your discussion/tone polite, to reflect respect to others # ##########################################################################
