The News Freedom
Dehradun, February 4
The Uttarakhand Cabinet on Sunday approved the final draft of the Uniform Civil Code (UCC), setting the stage for its enactment in the state assembly during a special session beginning on Monday. This move would make Uttarakhand the first state in independent India to implement a UCC.
The special Assembly session has been convened explicitly to pass the legislation on the UCC, with the Cabinet’s approval being a prerequisite for its presentation in the Assembly. If implemented, Uttarakhand, governed by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), will become the first state in India post-independence to adopt the Uniform Civil Code. It’s noteworthy that Goa has had a UCC in operation since the era of Portuguese rule.
Chief Minister Dhami, during the 2022 assembly polls, made the Uniform Civil Code for Uttarakhand a significant election promise. The comprehensive UCC draft, spanning 740 pages across four volumes, was recently handed over to Chief Minister Dhami by a five-member panel headed by retired Supreme Court judge Ranjana Prakash Desai.
The special Assembly session, scheduled from Monday to February 8, holds the primary objective of transforming the UCC draft into law. Chief Minister Dhami attributes the BJP’s resounding victory in Uttarakhand’s recent elections to the commitment of implementing the UCC.
Post his appointment as Chief Minister, Dhami prioritized the fulfillment of this pre-poll promise, forming a committee for drafting the UCC at the inaugural state cabinet meeting. The committee, established in May 2022, invested nearly two years and underwent four extensions to craft and submit the final draft on Friday.
Implementation of the UCC will establish a legal framework unifying marriage, divorce, land, property, and inheritance laws across all faiths in the state. The panel, led by Justice Ranjana Prakash Desai, actively sought public input, receiving 2.33 lakh written suggestions online and conducting over 70 meetings, engaging with around 60,000 people during the drafting process.
Key Points
- The draft, prepared by a five-member committee headed by retired Supreme Court judge Ranjana Prakash Desai, was approved during a cabinet meeting chaired by Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami.
- The special assembly session, specifically convened for this purpose, will last from February 5th to 8th and will consider the draft for passage into law.
- Enactment of the UCC would establish a uniform legal framework for marriage, divorce, inheritance, and other personal matters across all religious communities in the state.
- This initiative fulfills a key election promise of Dhami, whose BJP party secured a landslide victory in the 2022 polls partly due to their UCC pledge.
- The committee received extensive public feedback through 2.33 lakh online suggestions and meetings with over 60,000 individuals.