DEHRADUN: Uttarakhand will be the first state to implement the Uniform Civil Code (UCC) since Independence. The opposition in the state has criticised the government's proposal and but legal experts claim that the state government has every right to make and implement the law.
Briefing about the legal powers of state government in this regard, advocate general Surya Narayan Babulkar told The New Indian Express, "Articles 245 and 246 of the Constitution empower the Central and State Legislatures to implement laws. The matters on which the governments can implement laws are subsumed in the three lists mentioned in the seventh schedule of the Constitution".
Babhulkar further said, "Section 44, 36 and 37 of Chapter IV of the Constitution clearly mandate states that, among other arrangements, states shall provide a uniform civil code for their citizens. If this mandate of the Constitution is read with the Preamble of the Constitution, it becomes necessary
and binding for states to have a Uniform Civil Code".
"Several Supreme Court judgments, including the Shah Bano case in 1985, have recognised the need for a uniform civil code, asserting that it is not our job to make laws but the legislature's, advocate general added.
"The Constitution clearly mandates the central and state governments to make such a policy or law", he added.
Explaining the need for a law being brought for the state, Babhulkar further said, "There should be a single law for all citizens across the country or in the state with regard to public and personal matters like marriage, divorce, transfer of property, succession, adoption, population control, public order and
eligibility to avail benefits of government schemes".
The state government had earlier constituted a five-member committee headed by retired Supreme Court judge Ranjana Desai. Other members of the committee were retired High Court judge Pramod Kohli, retired IAS Shatrughan Singh, social activist Manu Gaur and Doon University VC Surekha Dangwal.
Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami has said that the UCC will be implemented in the state within the next two months. Soon the committee will talk to the people and take suggestions from the public.
CM Dhami said, "Implementing UCC in the state is our resolve, it was not just our election issue, we had found a solution and we are moving in that direction".
The Chief Minister said that the committee formed on the Common Civil Code is doing its job. The committee is meeting continuously and at the same time, the process of drafting is underway. The government will soon make it's draft public.
The government's proposal has evoked sharp reactions from opposition Congress and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) in the state.
Congress state spokesperson Garima Dasoni termed the proposal of a UCC as ridiculous and said that if the intention of the government is so clear, then first explain the definition of the code.
Garima said, "The BJP wants to bring a law to divert attention from other burning issues in the state".
She further said, "Unemployment in the state, worsening situation in disaster areas, the plight of roads and deteriorating law and order need attention". Crimes against women have increased by 20 per cent in the state. The BJP need not bring this law to hide its acts", she added.
Reacting to this, state spokesperson of AAP Kamlesh Raman said, "Dhami wants to religiously polarise the vote bank under the garb of this law in view of the upcoming 2024 general elections".
"Admittedly, Dhami is one of the Prime Minister's favourite Chief Ministers, but the social fabric of this state is not such that any seed based on religion is sown here. This saffron law will only create a wall of hatred among the peace-loving people here", Raman added.
Political experts believe that even after Dhami's defeat if the party has given him the command of the state, then his stature in the BJP can be easily imagined.
None of the former BJP chief ministers Nityanand Swami, Bhagat Singh Koshyari, Bhuvan Chand Khanduri, Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank, Trivendra Singh Rawat and Tirath Singh Rawat raised the party's Hindutva agenda as intensely as Pushkar Singh Dhami is currently raising.