The renewed push for a Uniform Civil Code, which many communities perceive as an encroachment into their personal laws and religious rights, is underway even as a nine-judge Bench of the Supreme Court is yet to decide the “ambit and scope” of religious freedom itself.
It has been three years since a Constitution Bench of the Supreme Court framed seven questions of law linked to religious freedom, rights and practices in the Sabarimala case.
The first of the seven questions is “What is the scope and ambit of the right to freedom of religion under Article 25 of the Constitution?” The reference in the case is still pending. The questions remain unanswered by the court. Of all the nine judges on that Bench, only two — Justices B.R. Gavai and Surya Kant — are currently serving in the Supreme Court.
