Article 44, and Exactly What It Says

In one line

Article 44 is nineteen words in the unenforceable Part of the Constitution, and almost everything argued about it turns on four of those words.

In the wording a student can write in an exam: article 44 provides that "The State shall endeavour to secure for the citizens a uniform civil code throughout the territory of India." It is a Directive Principle of State Policy, so by article 37 it is not enforceable by any court, though the principles in Part IV are nevertheless FUNDAMENTAL IN THE GOVERNANCE OF THE COUNTRY and it is the duty of the State to apply them in making laws. The Supreme Court has repeatedly regretted that it remains unimplemented, in Shah Bano in 1985, in Sarla Mudgal in 1995, in John Vallamattom in 2003 and in Jose Paulo Coutinho in 2019; and it has just as consistently refused to compel implementation, most clearly in Ahmedabad Women Action Group v. Union of India.

The text, word by word

"The State". The obligation is on the State as defined in article 12, and legislative competence is in Entry 5 of the Concurrent List, so both Parliament and a State Legislature may act. That single fact is what made the Uttarakhand Act of 2024 possible, and it is worked in its own chapter.

"Shall endeavour to secure". Compare article 45 as it now stands, which also says "shall endeavour to provide", with article 21A, which says "The State SHALL provide". The framers knew how to impose a duty of result and did not do so here. The obligation is to make the attempt.

"For the citizens". Not for communities, and not for religions. The unit of the article is the citizen, which is the pivot of the whole case in favour: a code addressed to citizens does not ask a community's permission.

"A uniform civil code". Two words carry an argument each. CIVIL, so the subject matter is marriage, divorce, maintenance, guardianship, adoption and succession, and not criminal law, which is already uniform, nor contract, tort, property or procedure, which are already uniform too. UNIFORM, which is not the same word as identical: a code may be uniform in that one law governs everybody while still containing options, exemptions and different provisions for different situations, as the Special Marriage Act 1954 does.

"Throughout the territory of India". Territorial reach, and the phrase that makes the Goa position and the Uttarakhand position both anomalous in opposite directions. Goa has had a common civil code since long before the Constitution; Uttarakhand has enacted one for one State, which is uniformity within a State and diversity across the country.

Where it sits, and what that means

Article 37 provides that the provisions of Part IV shall NOT BE ENFORCEABLE BY ANY COURT, but that the principles laid down are NEVERTHELESS FUNDAMENTAL IN THE GOVERNANCE OF THE COUNTRY and that it shall be the DUTY OF THE STATE to apply them in making laws.