Amid the raging debate over implementing the Uniform Civil Code (UCC) in the country, it is learnt that the draft of the Uttarakhand Civil Code will likely be the template for the Government of India’s law, sources said.
According to sources, Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami held a key meeting with Union Home Minister Amit Shah in New Delhi concerning the UCC late at night on July 3. The Chairperson of Uttarakhand UCC Drafting Committee, Justice Ranjana Prakash Desai was also present in the meeting, they said.
On June 30, the Dhami announced that the State Government would soon implement the state’s own UCC. He announced that the committee constituted to formulate a draft of the UCC has completed its work and that the government will move ahead with making it a law soon after getting and reviewing the printed draft.
On July 2, Dhami said that the UCC expert committee examining the subject would soon submit the draft. “As per the promise made to the state’s people, today on June 30, the committee formed to prepare the draft of the Uniform Civil Code has completed its work. Soon Uniform Civil Code will be implemented in Devbhoomi Uttarakhand. Jai Hind, Jai Uttarakhand!” he tweeted earlier.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s strong endorsement of the UCC brought it back to the spotlight. PM Modi said that the country could not run on two laws and that Uniform Civil Code was part of the Constitution. The UCC calls for the formulation of one law for India, which would apply to all religious communities in matters such as marriage, divorce, inheritance, and adoption.
“Today people are being instigated in the name of UCC. How can the country run on two (laws)? The Constitution also talks of equal rights…Supreme Court has also asked to implement UCC. These (Opposition) people are playing vote bank politics,” PM Modi had said.
The committee, reportedly, has touched upon the issue of population control, equal property rights for Muslim women, raising the marriageable age of women to 21, disallowing polygamy and polyandry, live-in relationships and ending coparcenary rights for male heirs in a Hindu joint family. The state’s UCC could touch upon subjects such as marriage, divorce, property rights, succession, inheritance, adoption, maintenance, custody, and guardianship.
The Uttarakhand government constituted a committee of experts under a retired Supreme Court judge, Justice (retd) Ranjana Prakash Desai, in May 2022. Besides Justice Desai, the committee includes former Chief Justice of the Sikkim High Court Permod Kohli, former Chief Secretary of Uttarakhand Shatrughna Singh, social activist Manu Gaur, the Vice Chancellor of Doon University Prof Surekha Dangwal and Resident Commissioner Uttarakhand, Ajay Mishra.
The committee formulated the draft UCC after meetings, consultations, field visits and interactions with experts and members of the public. The committee held its first meeting on July 4, 2022, in Delhi, and since then, the committee has met on 63 occasions.
“It gives me immense pleasure to inform you that the drafting of the proposed uniform civil code for Uttarkahnd is now complete,” Justice Desai said at a press conference in Delhi on June 30.
What is Uniform Civil Code?
Enshrined under Article 44, Part IV of the Constitution, the UCC is a ‘Directive Principle of State Policy.’ Article 44 states, “Uniform civil code for the citizens.—The State shall endeavour to secure for the citizens a uniform civil code throughout the territory of India.”
UCC aims to provide a common legal framework for all citizens, irrespective of their religious beliefs, in view of equal treatment regardless of their religious, ethnic, or caste backgrounds. UCC aims to eliminate outdated and regressive practices in some personal laws and make laws the same for all without tribal, caste, gender, or community difference.
Most contemporary countries have such laws; UCC is followed in many countries such as Pakistan, Bangladesh, Malaysia, Turkey, Indonesia, Sudan, Egypt, America, Ireland, etc. All these countries have uniform laws for all religions, and there are no separate laws for any particular religion or community.
UCC indicates that the country has moved away from caste and religious politics. It would eliminate the practices against the human rights and values enshrined in the Constitution of India, such as triple talaq, polygamy, child marriage, etc. UCC aims to provide a single set of legal rules governing personal matters like marriage, divorce, inheritance, and adoption for all citizens of India, irrespective of their religion.
[with inputs from ANI]
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