ABSTRACT
This chapter provides an overview of the recent debate on MPL from a legal-historical point of view. This chapter evokes the difference between personal laws and the customary law to explain the legal status of MPL. It emphasizes the fact that MPL and UCC cannot be discussed by suppressing the sociological diversity and existence of plurality of legal practices. The Constitution of India recognizes castes, tribes, sex, region, religion, language, communities, social classes, and many others factors to uphold a pluralistic view of Indian social and legal life. Hence, any effort to move further, and to achieve the goal as set out in Article 44 of the Constitution, cannot be meaningful unless this sociological plurality is recognized.
