Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Thursday announced that his government will implement the Uniform Civil Code (UCC) after Uttarakhand and Gujarat. While speaking to the reporters, Sarma asserted, “Uttarakhand and Gujarat will bring UCC first. Assam will follow them with some additions. I’m waiting to see Uttarkahand’s UCC Bill. We will bring a similar bill. In Assam, the tribal community will be exempted under the ambit of the UCC.”
The Uttarakhand government on December 23, 2023 approved the decisions taken so far by an expert panel drafting a Uniform Civil Code for the state. The Cabinet approved the decisions of the drafting committee during a meeting on Friday chaired by Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami, Chief Secretary SS Sandhu told reporters.
The committee — headed by retired Supreme Court judge Justice Ranjana Prakash Desai — is likely to submit the draft to the state government in January, following which the process to implement it will begin. The committee was formed in May 2022.
The BJP-led Gujarat government has been also working to implement UCC in the state. Gujarat Home Minister Harsh Sanghavi had, in October 2022, announced forming a committee for implementing the Uniform Civil Code in the state.
The Law Commission received nearly 46 lakh responses till July 2023 as the commission appealed to people to give their opinion on the controversial proposed law. On June 14, the Law Commission initiated a fresh consultation process on the Uniform Civil Code by seeking views from stakeholders, including public and recognised religious organisations, on the politically sensitive issue.
Earlier, the 21st Law Commission, the term of which ended in August 2018, examined the issue and solicited the views of all stakeholders on two occasions. Subsequently, a consultation paper on “Reforms of Family Law” was issued in August 2018.
“Since more than three years have lapsed from the date of issuance of the said consultation paper, bearing in mind the relevance and importance of the subject and also the various court orders on the subject, the 22nd Law Commission of India considered it expedient to deliberate afresh over the subject,” the panel had said in a ‘public notice’.
