Suggestions on Uniform Civil Code

[This paper was sent for the consideration of the 22^nd Law Commission]

Abstract:

Uniform Civil Code (UCC) deals with marriage, divorce, maintenance, inheritance, adoption, and succession of property, and in the process addresses discrimination against vulnerable groups and harmonizes various cultural practices. UCC is a long-awaited dream for those who respect the rule of law. Parliament has legislative competence to enact a law on UCC, in accordance with Constitutional provisions and international conventions. Personal laws which are not in conformity with public order, morality, health, and fundamental rights are also violative of the right to freedom of religion. UCC must be secured for all citizens, whether they belong to one religion or the other or whether they are irreligious. Social inequality and discrimination against women have been a common factor in all religions. There are other lacunae also in the personal laws. Any inaction or further delay in removing them will be violative of Articles 14 and 15 of the Constitution. Hence, a draft UCC may be prepared for inviting comments and suggestions. In the draft UCC, there should be no reference to any religion or religious practice. Only registration of events with a provision to deal with mutual consent may be provided in the draft UCC.  Issues arising out of live-in relationships; and perceptions about and problems of street children, destitute children, orphans, differently abled persons, persons with disease burden and senior citizens; may be adequately addressed in the UCC to ensure social equality and fair play.

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Article 44 in the Directive Principles of State Policy (DPSP) of the Constitution enjoins the State to secure for the citizens a uniform civil code (UCC). UCC means a national civil code by which all sections of society irrespective of their religion will be treated equally. It usually deals with marriage, divorce, maintenance, inheritance, adoption, and succession of the property, and in the process addresses discrimination against vulnerable groups and harmonizes various cultural practices. In India, the Constitution is the mother of all legislations and hence, the Code shall be consistent with it, especially with the fundamental rights.

Legislative competence:

UCC is a long-awaited dream for those who respect the rule of law. The DPSP are intended to provide directions to realise such dreams. In the case of UCC, in addition to Article 44 and the fundamental rights, Articles 38 and 45 of the Constitution also provide guidance. They relate to –

The Seventh Schedule of the Constitution provides for distribution of powers between the Centre and the States. Main entries in this Schedule relevant for enacting a law on UCC by the Parliament are:

In accordance with the provisions contained in Article 253 of the Constitution, Parliament has an overriding power to make any law on any subject, including matters falling in the State List, for the whole or any part of the territory of India for implementing any treaty, agreement or convention with any other country or countries or any decision made at any international conference, association, or other body.

Article 16 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, 1948, for which India is a signatory, provides that men and women of full age, without any limitation due to race, nationality or religion, are entitled to equal rights as to marriage, during marriage and at its dissolution, marriage shall be entered into only with the free and full consent of the intending spouses, and family is the natural and fundamental group unit of society and is entitled to protection by society and the State.

India is also a signatory to the Declaration on Social and Legal Principles relating to Protection and Welfare of Children, with Special Reference to Foster Placement and Adoption Nationally and Internationally which talks about child welfare and adoption. India has also ratified the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities in 2007. Under Article 25 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, 1948, childhood is entitled to special care and assistance. The International Convention on the Right of the Child, 1989 (ratified by India) laid emphasis on the protection of the child in the best interest of the child.

Thus, the Parliament has legislative competence to enact a law on UCC, in accordance with the afore-mentioned provisions.

Need for UCC:

Laying emphasis on the international conventions and the need to make laws to give effect to the principles thereof as also in the DPSP, Indian Courts, including the apex Court, in a catena of cases expressed concern over the delay in enacting UCC. In some of the cases decided by Indian Courts, a few provisions in personal laws were found to be bad in law, as they were neither essential in the respective religions nor they were in conformity with fundamental rights. Being discriminative, they were struck down. There could be other provisions in the personal laws which may fall under this category. They continue in the Code Book, merely because they have not been challenged in any court so far. Hence, a review would be necessary. Allowing such provisions in the law is violative of the equality doctrine under Article 14 of the Constitution. Article 15 clearly states that State shall not discriminate against any citizen on grounds only of religion, race, caste, sex, place of birth or any of them. Thus, inaction / delay by Government in not bringing a law which disallows social inequality and discrimination on grounds of religion, race, caste, sex etc. in personal laws is violative of Article 15 as well. Hence, enacting UCC is necessary.

During the previous attempts made with respect to UCC and even now, a fear psychosis has been generated among the public that UCC will nullify the freedom of religion. The right to freedom of religion is covered under Articles 25-28 of the Constitution. Articles 26-28 may not be wholly relevant for the UCC. In Article 25, it was mentioned that the freedom to profess, practice and propagate religion is subject to public order, morality, health and fundamental rights. As such, personal laws which are not in conformity with public order, morality, health and fundamental rights are violative of the right to freedom of religion. Hence, securing UCC is a requirement not only in terms of international commitments but also in terms of Articles 14, 15, 25 and 253 of the Constitution. Better late than never.

Present context to enact UCC:

Religion / caste is a tag attached to every individual on his / her birth by concerned parents or guardians or elders. The tag continues unchanged throughout the lifetime of the individual in most situations. In some cases, there could be conversion to other religion at the choice of the individual. Thus, in most cases, religion gets attached to individuals initially without their choice and the position continues either by default or by choice when the individual grows in age. Educated Indians, substantial in number, feel that religion and religious beliefs are not really a requirement for them, or religious recognition will continue as a default option for them which does not bother them, or they would continue to follow religion to satisfy their elders, whom they do not want to antagonize.

In the 2001 population census, around 7 lakhs persons in India did not state their religion and were shown under the category “religion not stated”. Their number has significantly increased 4 times from 7 lakhs in the 2001 census to 29 lakhs in the 2011 census. The decennial census due in 2021 has not been conducted so far. This indicates that there are persons among Indian citizens who are not willing to be categorized as belonging to one religion or the other. Their number may be insignificant compared to the population of India, but when compared with minorities in India, they may perhaps match in size with some. Persons under the category “religion not stated” may be named as irreligious persons or atheists or apostates by religious minded people, but the fact that merits consideration is that theoretically, there is no personal law in India that could be applied to them. Forcing them to be identified with one or the other religion will infringe their fundamental rights.

Thus, religion is hanging between belief and disbelief, and between existence and non-existence in modern times. The institution of marriage which stands at the very root of continuance and sustenance of society is perhaps losing ground or taking a different shape as a living-in relationship. Live-in relationships are preferred in place of marriages for a variety of reasons, such as freedom, convenience, no commitment, no interference in personal activities, easy to enter and break out relationship without any formalities or customary rites, not requiring spending huge money on marriage ceremony or dowry, and ease in entering another relationship unlike marriages having stringent divorce laws. Perhaps, preference for English medium schools by parents for their children in recent times has also been contributing to losing ground on religious beliefs / customs.

After birth, an individual learns about religious beliefs and practices from his elders and the society around him/ her. In a very few cases, people learn from written texts. Most of the beliefs and practices do not find place in personal laws, because of the lack of such a requirement. But one must agree that the concept of religion as also religious beliefs and practices have evolved over time to address different problems and contexts. Religious customs were not static at all, and they were changing with changing times. Now, having travelled for a long time, one need not think as to why practices such as Sati and child marriages prevailed once upon a time. Better to leave them behind with the understanding that they were perhaps suited to the times when they were practiced, and one need not continue with them in the present times. Otherwise, we stagnate. The Old Order Changeth Yielding Place to New. One cannot expect that the UCC that will be evolved in our times will be followed for all time to come. In our path of progress, even the UCC must change with the changing times to become modern and best suited at any given point of time.

India has witnessed different cultures over time. Religion, indigenous or foreign, has played a major role in evolving legal systems. Undoubtedly, religious beliefs and teachings were converted into a legal framework to regulate moral behaviour and social order. Vedas and Smritis were personal laws in Ancient India. Same way, the holy Quran and holy Bible were also personal laws. During the times when documentation/ codification was neither available nor needed, these religious texts were followed in society with the aid and advice of knowledgeable persons. When writing and printing were introduced in society, various religious texts were written (earlier they were only heard) and likewise, religious customs which were consistent with the law of those times took the shape of personal laws. Personal laws also met the requirement of standardization as different principles were applied in different geographical units.

In view of the above developments, citizens of this country, for whom UCC has to be secured, fall mainly under the following categories in modern times:

• Those who are staunch followers of one religion or the other
• Those who allow themselves to be recognized as belonging to a religion by   default for various reasons
• Those who live without any contact with any religion by choice
• Those who live in a penury status or in such a way that religion does not mean anything to them (example: casual labour, street children, destitute children, orphans)
• Those who openly state that they do not belong to any religion

Some lacunae:

Social inequality and discrimination against women have been a common factor in all religions. In most of the court cases dealing with personal law, this was the main issue that was addressed. Instead of waiting for the courts to specify each case of discrimination when challenged, it is better to review and rectify the anomalies. This requirement would be better met by formulating a UCC. One should not worry about baseless criticism discouraging such attempts. In most situations, such criticism was due to lack of knowledge or insecurity feeling. Even at the time of enacting amendment laws concerning any personal law, the issue of interference or infringement with the freedom of religion was raised by some sections of society. The same thing is happening again. Such abortive attempts should not lead us to hasty conclusions that stop us from evolving a UCC.

The existing personal laws contain some provisions that are discriminatory. Without naming them, a few examples (to mention a few) indicating the nature of lacunae in the laws are given below:

• Daughters who marry outside their community are not given property rights and wives belonging to other communities are given only half of the husband’s property as per a personal law.
• Women from some of the tribal communities do not have equal property rights under the relevant laws.
• According to a personal law, if a widow woman dies without a will, her property will go to her husband’s heirs in the absence of children because of inherent and unwritten assumption that after marriage a woman has no place in her family and her husband’s family can exert all her rights over her being.
• There is a personal law which states that women cannot claim property rights in the event of a divorce even when her financial contribution was involved in acquiring that property. She may be entitled only to maintenance under Section 125 of the Cr.PC.
• Another personal law prescribes that a man’s share of inheritance is double that of a woman in the same degree of relationship to the deceased.
• A personal law specifies that the father should be the natural guardian of his child and the mother is given guardianship rights only if the child is below five years of age or in the absence of the father.
• Another personal law fixed the minimum marriageable age for men as 21 and as 18 for women, denying women of an equal footing and perpetrating the notion that women must be younger than men for marriages to work.
• A personal law allows the practice of bigamy in terms of permitting a man to marry the second time if his wife fails to deliver a child by the age of 25 or a male child by the age of 30.
• Yet another personal law allows the practice of polygamy by permitting husbands to have four wives at a time. But the law says that a woman can have only one husband and that the second marriage is void if she contracts a second marriage during the subsistence of the first marriage. In case of second marriage, she may also be punished for bigamy under the IPC.
• A personal law specifies that a man can marry a girl of his community or other communities, but a girl can marry only a man of her community. The law also states that if she marries a man outside her community, the marriage is void.
• One personal law gives legitimacy to every child of void or voidable marriage, but other personal laws do not.
• For parties engaged in live-in relationship, the ‘reasonable’ time after which each pair will be treated as husband and wife is unclear. There is no specific law on maintenance, succession etc. Rights of children born out of live-in relationships are also not clear.
• There are over 700 family courts across the country, in which more than 11.4 lakh cases are pending. Some of the provisions in the existing laws, such as restitution of conjugal rights, complications in obtaining divorce and unnecessary adjournments may be causing avoidable pendency of cases. There is a need for simplification and rationalization.
• There are many problems in society, for which laws are weak, such as married daughters’ responsibility on parents, protection of minorities, simplification of divorce, not accounting full-time or substantial contributions in household chores of persons such as house-wives, inheritance by disabled, transgender issues, restitution of conjugal rights, bigamy upon conversion, change of surname on marriage by women, requirement of discarding religion after marriage, and restrictions on burden of proof being different for husband and wife in divorce and other cases.

Approach for preparing UCC:

The challenges that the proposed UCC must address are much beyond the scope of the existing personal laws. Moreover, the personal laws were not stagnant as they had undergone changes from time to time. Hence, it would be futile to argue that personal laws are infallible and any attempt to update them to suit modern times is an infringement of freedom of religion. In the light of the foregoing, broad approach for preparing a UCC is suggested as follows:

• The provisions and definitions in the UCC shall not make any reference to any religion. The only reference should be to a citizen and his / her other characteristics, such as age etc.
• All the required provisions such as marriage, divorce, re-marriage, live-in relationship, adoption, Guardianship and Child Custody, Maintenance, Succession, Inheritance, threat-perceptions at the time of these events, mandatory registration of these events in a suitable way, and periodic review of these events where necessary (for example, adoption and maintenance) may be included in the UCC. For this purpose, provisions in the existing personal laws may be harmonized in a manner that they would be in conformity with public order, morality, health, human rights, and fundamental rights. Other provisions that may be required may be taken from best international practices and other sources. The Goa Civil Code, which is a uniform civil code, and the experience gained in its administration will also be useful in the exercise. Every effort should be made to eliminate gender bias and social inequalities.
• Issues arising out of live-in relationships; and perceptions about and problems of street children, destitute children, orphans, differently abled persons, persons with disease burden and senior citizens; may be adequately addressed in the UCC to ensure social equality and fair play.
• A religion may prescribe, for its followers, ethical principles, rituals, ceremonies, modes of worship, at times food and dress, which are essential and an integral part of it. Religious beliefs and practices indicated in religious terminology should not normally find place in laws. They would at times create avoidable restrictions. Even naming such details in the law should not be attempted. These are to be left to the concerned religious denominations to lay down from time to time for people to follow. A law covering the underlying events has only to mandatorily register the occurrence of the events, which might or might not have occurred as per any religious custom. For example, a marriage between a man and a woman (two citizens) may be registered only as per their claim and other details furnished by them, without any reference to their religion or their being irreligious, indicating thereby that they were married. The registration shall enable appropriate rights to them with reference to marriage. Needless to emphasize, dissolution of the relevant relationships must also be mandatorily registered which indicates cessation of the relationships. Events having mutual consent of parties must be registered and cases of dissolution by mutual consent also must be mandatorily registered without the requirement of going to courts. In case of divorce, if the husband or the wife states that he / she cannot continue with the relationship, divorce should be registered forthwith without any inquiry about the grounds and circumstances. Such simplifications where feasible shall be attempted. Concepts like restitution of conjugal rights and fixing a period beyond which only a divorce could be given are to be done away with. As they are mature enough, no attempts should be made to counsel the parties to live together after at least one of them decides to discontinue the relationship. There could be cases where the concerned parties reconcile their differences after dissolution of marriage. In such situations, they may marry again, and that event may be registered as per usual process. Hence, it would be sufficient to recognize an event under a law, such as marriage or adoption or divorce by mutual consent, without the details of religious ceremonies, if any, performed. This way, the laws could be totally insulated from religion in a much better way. Registration of events in a law without reference to religious ceremonies is a better way of achieving it. By doing this, religious ceremonies getting recognition of a law under Article 13 of the Constitution could be avoided. For example, the Japanese Civil Code does not recognize religious ceremonies for registering a marriage. This method may be very useful in formulating UCC.
• The contributions of the husband and the wife in the process of acquiring property after their marriage shall include full-time or substantial contribution by either of them in household chores, which may be evaluated on par with average salary / wage / other income of the earning member(s). This should be considered for calculating respective shares in the property at the time of divorce. Even in cases of divorce by mutual consent, maintenance and share in property acquired after marriage may also be mutually agreed upon either fully or partially. In the event of full agreement, the details will go along with registration of divorce and it will be a final settlement. In case of partial agreement, the details of that part which is not disputed by the parties will go along with registration of divorce and it will be a partial settlement. The Courts will adjudicate on rival claims of parties only in respect of what has not been agreed by the parties.
• At the commencement of the UCC, all personal laws should be repealed. This single law in the form of UCC shall be the driving and guiding force for all citizens in establishing mutual relationships and for national integration.
• The UCC may include appropriate provisions to obtain ratification on UCC of State Legislative Assemblies of those States like Nagaland which were given special provisions under articles 371 (A) to (I) of the Constitution.
• Draft UCC prepared on these lines may be made available to political parties, public, religious groups and other important personalities for their comments and suggestions. The draft may be finalized, based on comments and suggestions received, and used for consideration and passing in the Parliament.

Specific answers to the questionnaire of the Law Commission, circulated vide their Appeal dated 07-10-2016, are given in the Annexure.

Annexure

Answers to Law Commission’s Questionnaire on Uniform Civil Code (UCC)

1. Are you aware that Article 44 of the Constitution of India provides that “the State shall endeavor to secure for the citizens, a on Uniform Civil Code throughout the territory of India”?

1. Yes
2. No

In your view, does this matter require any further initiatives?

Answer: Yes. Conducting an opinion poll in this manner, without giving a draft Code, will only facilitate gathering misconceptions and apprehensions from different sources. It is better to provide a draft Uniform Civil Code along with an explanatory note, for people to see and meaningfully comment upon it.

2. The various religious denominations are governed by personal laws and customary practices in India on matters of family law; should the UCC include all or some of these subjects?

1. Yes, it should include all these
2. No, it should exclude _______
3. It should further include _____

Answer: The UCC should include all these. In addition, it should include re-marriage, live-in relationship, threat-perceptions at the time of these events, mandatory registration of these events, and periodic review of these events. It should exclude recognition of religions or sects in any form, to give a clear message that the UCC is applicable to all citizens alike.

3. Do you agree that the existing personal laws and customary practices need codification and would benefit the people?

1. Yes
2. No
3. Personal laws and customary practices should be replaced by a uniform civil code
4. Personal laws and customary practices should be codified to bring them in line with fundamental rights

Answer: Yes. The proposed Code should be in conformity with the fundamental rights. All the provisions in personal laws and customary practices that are inconsistent with the fundamental rights shall be discarded forthwith to eliminate discrimination, arbitrariness, and social inequality. The rest of the provisions in the personal laws and customary practices and other required provisions such as those mentioned in the answer to question no. 2 may be included to make a single law to be called the UCC, which would be applicable to all the citizens alike. Mere codification by putting together all the laws with appropriate amendments will result in a plurality of laws and portray a clumsy picture.

Answer: Yes. Mere codification will not be sufficient. Only a UCC, consistent with the fundamental rights, will ensure gender equality.

5. Should the uniform civil code be optional?

1. Yes
2. No

Answer: No. The UCC should be mandatory for all citizens alike. The idea of making it optional arose only because some people are visualizing a ghost in it. Muslim Personal Law (Shariat) Application Act, 1937 was enacted as an optional legislation. Citing the example of the Shariat Act, which was initially applied to territories other than the North-West Frontier Province and in them to only those Muslims (and their successors) who made a declaration before a designated officer that they would be bound by the Act, Dr. B.R. Ambedkar pointed out in the Constituent Assembly debates that it is possible to make the application of UCC purely voluntary till all the fears and apprehensions are allayed and that it is not a novel method. In fact, making the UCC optional will lead to confusion. If a person following UCC marries a person not following it, it would be difficult to decide on their respective rights. It would also be difficult to decide on the laws to be made applicable to the children born out of this wedlock.

6. Should the following practices be banned and regulated?

Answer: Polygamy, Polyandry, and other practices, such as Maitri-karaar, have to be banned in respect of married persons. Having banned such practices, violations must be regulated and punished. In case of unmarried persons (those who prefer not to marry), practices, such as Maitri-karaar, must be recognized and if possible, registered, so that children born in such arrangements will not be treated as illegitimate children and that they will be eligible for inheritance of property.

7. Should the practice of triple talaq be:

Answer: The practice of triple talaq should be abolished in toto. Provisions on divorce should be applicable equally to married men and women of all religions/ sects and there should be no discrimination. The very concept, where only men give divorce and women receive divorce all the time, need to be done away with, to eliminate discrimination.

8. Do you think that steps should be taken to ensure that Hindu women are better able to exercise their right to property, which is often bequeathed to sons under customary practices?

1. Yes, Hindu women must be made aware of this right and measures should be taken to ensure that women, under pressure from family, do not forego their property.
2. No, there are adequate provisions in the existing law.
3. Legal provisions will not help in what is primarily a cultural practice, steps have to be taken to sensitize the society instead.

Answer: Women, being relatively more vulnerable to emotions, are likely to be easily misled to forfeit their right to property in favour of male heirs. This situation can be handled in a better way if the law expressly prevents unconditional forfeiting of property by any heir and provides for appropriate conditions which may be the cause for forfeiting, the subsequent violation of which could be punished and forfeiting reversed if possible. The problems of differently abled heirs may also be somewhat similar.

9. Do you agree that the two-year period of wait for finalizing divorce violates Christian women’s right to equality?

1. Yes, it should be made uniform across all marriages.
2. No. This period is sufficient and in keeping with religious sentiments.

Answer: The divorce norms must be made uniform for married men and women irrespective of religion. Dissolution of marriage by mutual consent may be provided along with mandatory registration process in the UCC itself. In other words, couples need not go to court for getting divorce decree if they mutually agree. By this, wastage of time for couples wanting divorce will be avoided. This quasi-judicial provision will save precious time of family courts. Once this is done, time restrictions for obtaining divorce, making false allegations unnecessarily for obtaining it and further wasting time to prove or disprove such allegations may not be required.

10. Do you agree that there should be a uniform age of consent for marriage across all personal laws and customary practices?

1. Yes.
2. No, customary laws locate this age at the attainment of puberty.
3. The prevailing system of recognizing “voidable” marriages is sufficient.

Answer: Yes. There should be a uniform minimum age for giving consent to marriage/ other practices, such as Maitri-karaar, for men and women irrespective of religion.

11. Do you agree that all the religious denominations should have the common grounds for divorce?

1. Yes
2. No, cultural difference must be preserved.
3. No, but there should be the same grounds for divorce available for men and women within personal law.

Answer: Yes. All married men and women irrespective of their religious denominations should have same grounds for divorce. In the case of divorce by mutual consent, there should be no requirement of any ground.

12. Would uniform civil code aid in addressing the problem of denial of maintenance or insufficient maintenance to women upon divorce?

1. Yes
2. No

Give reasons.

Answer: Mutual consent for maintenance shall be an integral part of mutual consent for divorce. Maintenance could be in the form of one-time lumpsum payment or periodical (monthly) / recurring payment. In all other cases of divorce (other than mutual consent for divorce), the issue of maintenance must be decided by the concerned court. The norms for deciding maintenance shall be uniform for all married citizens. The presumption, if any, that only men must provide maintenance to women on divorce has to be done away with. It should equally apply to both the genders. Negligence/ denial to provide maintenance shall be made punishable.

13. How can compulsory registration of marriages be implemented better?

Answer: The UCC must provide for compulsory registration of marriages, divorces, adoptions, and guardianships etc. A time limit of one year has to be fixed for existing cases to be registered under the law. Online facilities for entering relevant data and applying for registration shall be provided and after approval by competent authority, registration certificate must be made available online for downloading by the concerned parties. Failure to register must entail civil consequences, such as not getting protections under different laws and regulations/ rules of Government, apart from criminal consequences.

14. What measures should we take to protect the couples who enter into inter-religion and inter caste marriages?

Answer: The UCC will apply to all the citizens alike. If a marriage takes place and gets registered under the UCC, it will be between a man and a woman, who are citizens. The details of their religion or caste or ethnic group shall not be noted in the mandatory registration process. In the case of an inter-caste or inter-religion marriage, it may at best be in the knowledge of neighbours, but in the eyes of the law, such details will neither be recognized nor available.

15. Would UCC infringe an individual’s right to freedom of religion?

1. Yes
2. No

Give reasons.

Answer: The UCC, if prepared carefully, will not infringe an individual’s fundamental right including the right to freedom of religion. In fact, it will rectify anomalies in some of the personal laws which infringe fundamental rights. The right to freedom of religion in its different facets is covered under Articles 25-28 of the Constitution.

Articles 26, 27 and 28 of the Constitution are not per se relevant to UCC. Article 25 states that subject to public order, morality, health, and fundamental rights, all persons are equally entitled to freedom of conscience and the right to freely profess, practice and propagate religion. It also states that the State will not be prevented from making any law regulating or restricting any economic, financial, political or other secular activity which may be associated with religious practice. This clearly indicates that the right to profess or practice any religion is subject to public order, morality, health, and fundamental rights. If any provision under any personal law is adversely affecting public order, morality, and health or infringing fundamental rights, such freedom is not available under the Constitution. Parliament may enact a law, such as the UCC, omitting such provisions.

16. What measures should be taken to sensitize the society towards a common code or codification of personal law?

Answer: The only measure, available at this moment, to sensitize the society towards a common code or codification of personal law is to provide clarifications to those who fully or partially negate the proposal. But, there is no point in issuing rejoinders to adverse criticisms emanating from different quarters on UCC, as they are mostly apprehensions or expressions of insecurity. Most of these will vanish if a draft UCC is notified along with an explanatory note seeking specific comments. The explanatory note may provide clarifications on important issues already raised. In the absence of a draft UCC, the Law Commission will be dealing with only assumptions/ surmises of the public who are mostly unaware of the context and the existing laws relevant on the subject.