UCC draft is ready and will be submitted to the government soon, says committee

This committee was formed by the Uttarakhand government in June last year.

Justice Ranjana Prakash Desai (Retd) speaks to the residents of Uttarakhand residing during Expert Committee meeting on Uniform Civil Code in Uttarakhand. File. | Photo Credit: ANI

From gender equality to elimination of arbitrariness and discrimination, from uniform laws on property rights to adoption rules, the draft of Uniform Civil Code for Uttarakhand state has taken all these aspects into account, said retired Supreme Court judge Ranjana Prakash Desai, on Friday. Justice Desai, who is heading the UCC committee formed by the state, also confirmed that the draft of the Uniform Civil Code is ready and is at a printing stage after which it will be submitted to the state government.

Addressing the media, justice Desai said, “It gives me immense pleasure to inform you that the drafting of the proposed uniform civil code for Uttarakhand is now complete. “The report of the committee along with the draft code would soon be printed and submitted to the government of Uttarakhand.”

She added that the Committee has painstakingly taken into account all shades of opinions and looked into the various statutes and uncodified laws including the statutory framework in select countries. Besides the Committee has tried to understand the finer nuances of the various customary practices that prevail in different parts of the State.

The committee, headed by justice Desai, who is also the current head of the delimitation commission, also has members likeJustice Pramod Kohli, social worker Manu Gaur (heading Taxpayers Association of Bharat), retired IAS officer Shatrughan Singh and Vice Chancellor of Doon University Surekha Dangwal.

This committee was formed by the Uttarakhand government in June last year to examine ways for the implementation of a UCC.  In the span of a little over a year, this Committee has met 63 times. Over 2.15 lakh written submissions, including mass submissions (with multiple signatories) were received by the committee which has also met over 20,000 people personally via public outreach program. The Committee also interacted with the representatives of political parties, state statutory commissions as well as with leaders of various religious denominations.

In a statement, the Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami said on Friday that the government will start the process of implementing the UCC as soon as it receives the draft.