NEW DELHI: BJP-ruled states of Uttarakhand and Gujarat that have formulated committees for the introduction of the Uniform Civil Code got a green signal as the Supreme Court on Monday refused to entertain plea by Anoop Barnwal challenging the panels.
“How can we stop a state from forming a committee?” a bench of CJI DY Chandrachud and Justice PS Narasimha asked.
Referring to Article 162 of the Constitution of India which deals with the extent of the state’s executive power, the court further said that the constitution of the committee by the state in itself could not be challenged since it has the power to do so.
“The extent of executive power of State Subject to the provisions of this Constitution, the executive power of a State shall extend to the matters with respect to which the Legislature of the State has power
to make laws,” the bench remarked.
The court further added that aspects such as marriage and divorce, infants and minors, adoption, wills, intestacy, joint family and partition fell under entry 5 of the Concurrent List on which the state, as well as the Centre, can make laws.
Gujarat Home Minister Harsh Sanghavi on October 29, 2022, announced the state cabinet’s decision for the formulation of a committee for the implementation of the UCC in the state. In 2022, even Uttarakhand government constituted a committee of experts to examine the relevant laws regulating personal civil matters of residents of the state.
The committee was also formulated for the preparation of draft laws or suggesting changes in the existing laws on subjects such as marriage, divorce, property rights, succession/inheritance, adoption, maintenance, guardianship and custody. The government had also tasked the committee to prepare a report on the implementation of UCC in the state.
Last week, the SC while hearing pleas seeking uniform laws for maintenance, adoption, succession and divorce had remarked that all these were a matter of legislature and lie within the domain of parliamentary sovereignty.