Edited by Deepali Verma
Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami informed that a five-member expert committee was formed to prepare a draft for a Uniform Civil Code (UCC), which is due for submitting the draft on February 2 and that the government would thereafter introduce a Bill in the Assembly to implement the UCC.
“Bringing a Uniform Civil Code was our pledge before the people in the Uttarakhand Assembly. The people of Devbhoomi gave us their blessings to form the government and thereby, complete the promise. We have formed a committee led by Justice Ranjana Desai for the draft preparation,” Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami said in a video statement posted on X on January 29.
“The committee has completed its work and informed us that they will submit the draft on February 2, after which, there will be further assessment. We will place it in front of the cabinet and do the required to make it an Act,” he added.
The Assembly will be brought together for a special one-day session on February 5 to discuss and pass the Uniform Civil Code Bill.
In an older X post, Dhami said that his government was determined to implement the UCC prior to the Lok Sabha elections. “Our government has been committed to implementing the UCC in the state as per the Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s vision of ‘One India, Best India’ prior to the elections according to the aspirations of the godlike people of Uttarakhand. The committee responsible for drafting the Uniform Civil Code will submit the draft to the state government on February 2 and we will implement the UCC in the state by bringing a bill in the upcoming assembly session,” he wrote with the hashtag #UCCInUttarakhand.
An expert committee responsible for preparing a UCC draft was constituted on May 27, 2022. The committee was led by Justice Ranjana Desai, who happens to be a retired Supreme Court judge. The committee further consists of Delhi High Court judge Justice Pramod Kohli, former chief secretary Shatrughan Singh, Doon University Vice-Chancellor Surekha Dangwal and social worker Manu Gaur.
The report has its emphasis on gender equality and equal rights for daughters in ancestral properties. However, it doesn’t suggest raising the marriageable age of women to 21 years. Its recommendations stand at retaining the marriageable age for women at 18 years.
Sources have revealed that once the Uttarakhand Legislative Assembly passes the UCC, two other BJP-ruled states namely Gujarat and Assam, will pass more or less a similar Bill in their Assemblies. If things proceed according to the plan, three states will enact the Uniform Civil Code prior to the Lok Sabha elections that are due in the next few months.
