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@article{208247,
        author = {Triza Pritam Mazinder Baruah},
        title = {UNIFORM CIVIL CODE AND ASSAM: CONSTITUTIONAL TRANSFORMATION, GENDER JUSTICE AND LEGAL PLURALISM},
        journal = {International Journal of Innovative Research in Technology},
        year = {2026},
        volume = {13},
        number = {4},
        pages = {1149-1155},
        issn = {2349-6002},
        url = {https://ijirt.org/article?manuscript=208247},
        abstract = {The Uniform Civil Code has remained one of the most debated constitutional aspirations in India since the adoption of Article 44 of the Constitution. The debate has acquired a significant regional dimension with Assam's legislative initiative towards establishing a common civil framework in matters traditionally governed by different personal laws. The Uniform Civil Code, Assam, Bill, 2026 was introduced in the Assam Legislative Assembly on 25 May 2026 and passed by the House on 27 May 2026. Assam provides a particularly important setting for examining such reform because its social and constitutional landscape is characterised not only by religious diversity but also by numerous tribal communities, customary legal traditions and constitutionally protected autonomous institutions. The Assam model consequently raises questions extending beyond the conventional debate between religious personal law and legal uniformity. It requires an examination of the relationship between Article 44 and Articles 14, 15, 21 and 25; between gender justice and personal-law autonomy; and between civil uniformity and tribal customary rights protected by the Constitution. This article argues that the constitutional justification for a Uniform Civil Code should not be understood merely as the replacement of minority personal laws by a uniform statutory regime. Existing inequalities within codified majority-community laws must equally be subjected to constitutional scrutiny. A significant example is Section 15 of the Hindu Succession Act, 1956, under which, in certain circumstances, the heirs of a deceased Hindu woman's husband are preferred to her own parents even in relation to property independently acquired by her. Such provisions demonstrate that the objective of a gender-just UCC must be substantive equality rather than uniformity for its own sake. The article examines the constitutional foundation of the UCC, Assam's distinctive legal setting, marriage and divorce, succession, the rights of women, tribal customary law, religious freedom, privacy and federalism. It concludes that the legitimacy of the Assam model will ultimately depend upon whether it advances equal citizenship and individual dignity while preserving those forms of cultural and customary diversity which the Constitution itself recognises.},
        keywords = {Uniform Civil Code, Assam, Article 44, Hindu Succession Act, gender justice, personal laws, Scheduled Tribes, customary law, Sixth Schedule, equality, religious freedom, constitutional pluralism.},
        month = {September},
        }