NEW DELHI: The Centre may do away with a national Uniform Civil Code draft, with the Uttarakhand UCC likely to serve as the template for similar laws in as many as 21 NDA-ruled states, highly placed law ministry sources said.
Though the 22nd Law Commission, headed by Justice Ritu Raj Awasthi, had been tasked with preparing a nationwide UCC draft—a long-standing electoral promise of the BJP—it could not submit the final document before Justice Awasthi was appointed a member of the Lokpal and its term ended on August 31, 2024.
The Uttarakhand UCC law incorporated several recommendations from the nationwide UCC framework prepared by the commission, except for its contentious provision requiring the registration of live-in relationships, a senior official said.
In January 2025, Uttarakhand became the first state after Independence to bring such a code into force. Though the assemblies of BJP-ruled Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat and Assam have passed UCC Bills, they are yet to implement them as Presidential nod is awaited.
The development assumes significance after Union Home Minister Amit Shah’s recent statement that 21 NDA-ruled states could implement the UCC before the 2029 Lok Sabha elections.
The senior official quoted above said a separate national draft may no longer be required, as the Centre has so far chosen to allow NDA-ruled states to frame their own codes instead of introducing central legislation.