Judicial Opinion on Whether Personal Law is a “Law” under Article 13 of the Constitution of India

Abstract

India is a land of religious pluralism. Every religion has its own set of customs and rituals. Personal law may apply to either a group or an individual. It is applied based on the faith or the religion, which an individual chooses to practice and profess. In India, there have been migrations and invasions by varied foreign rulers, which have led to multiple set of personal laws. Some practices of these religions are discriminatory on the ground of gender. Contemporary India witnesses the upsurge of feminist legal responses on the concerns of gender inequality in religious laws. Beginning from the Constituent Assembly Debates to the formation of the Constitution of India and then the unclear varying judicial pronouncements in relation to the personal laws by the Indian judiciary have made the topic of personal laws dynamic. In this context, it is imperative to understand the concept of personal laws as it prevails today. This article looks into the location of personal laws within the structure of Article 13 of the Constitution of India.