Congress holds closed-door meeting on Uniform Civil Code even as Law Panel extends the deadline

The Congress has stated that it will wait for a draft of the proposed Uniform Civil Code before taking an official stand.

Congress leaders P Chidambaram, Salman Khurshid and Abhishek Singhvi after a meeting with party leaders in New Delhi. | Photo Credit: ANI

An eight-member group, set up to advice Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge on Uniform Civil Code (UCC), felt that uniformity on personal laws of different communities was not necessary even though there is scope for reforms of personal laws

On July 15, members of this group held a closed door meeting at the All India Congress Committee (AICC) headquarters in which the overwhelming sentiment was to reject any “uniformity that doesn’t respect India’s diversity”.

Sources said the eight member group included eminent lawyers P. Chidamabaram, Abhishek Singhvi, Salman Khurshid, Manish Tewari, Vivek Tankha and K.T.S. Tusli. Other members include Lok Sabha member from Odisha and a tribal leader Saptagiri Ulaka and Rajya Sabha member, L Hanumanthaiah, who is from a scheduled caste (SC).

So far, the Congress has stated that it will wait for a draft of the proposed UCC before taking an official stand. 

“Though nothing is final yet and we will wait for a draft but most of us felt that there was no need for a UCC at this stage. In 2018, the 21st Law Commission had said in its report that the UCC is neither advisable nor feasible,” said a member of the advisory group. 

“There may be a case to reform personal laws of different communities and that can be done after consultation with the stakeholders and the concerned community,” he added. 

The Congress chief had made this advisory group after Prime Minister Narendra Modi — at a meeting of BJP workers last month in Bhopal — had made a strong pitch for the uniform civil code.

The Prime Minister’s push came just days after the 22nd Law Commission, headed by Justice Ritu Raj Awasthi, had started the process of public consultations in mid- June.

Asking for opinions and feedback from the public and organisation, the Law panel had put July 15 as the last for public consultations. However, the law panel has now extended the last date to July 28. 

With the Monsoon session of Parliament scheduled to start from July 20 and end on August 11, the government may not be able to bring in legislation in the forthcoming session. 

“The government may think it’s about one community but it’s not. Tribals have their own customary law and the BJP’s former ally, the Shiromani Akali Dal, has given strong arguments why UCC isn’t required,”said another leader.