DEHRADUN: The specially appointed expert committee responsible for implementing the Uniform Civil Code (UCC) presented its preliminary report to Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami on Friday. Justice (Retd.) Ranjana Prakash Desai, the chairperson of the committee, and her team visited the Chief Minister's residence at the main Secretariat building to deliver the draft report.
It is expected that after receiving approval in the Cabinet meeting called on Saturday, the draft report on UCC implementation in the state will be presented in the State Assembly on February 6, sources said.
After submitting this report, Uttarakhand will become the first state in the country to implement the UCC. It has been operational in Goa since the days of the Portugese rule.
The UCC will provide a legal framework for uniform marriage, divorce, land, property and inheritance laws for all citizens irrespective of their religion in the state.
Soon after the submission of the UCC, Dhami said, "It is yet another step towards the fulfilment of a commitment made to the people of the state during the run-up to the assembly polls held in the state in 2022."
Dhami said after getting a historic mandate of the people for a second consecutive term in office, his cabinet decided to constitute a committee to draft the UCC at its very first meeting to initiate the process of fulfilling that commitment.
"The panel, which consists of erudite people, held a comprehensive dialogue with people representing different sections of the society, including the tribal people of the country's first village of Mana, before finalising the draft," he said. Mana is a village located in Chamoli district of Uttarakhand near the India-China border.
"The long-awaited moment has arrived. The draft of UCC has now been submitted to us. We will examine, study and discuss it before tabling it in the state assembly to move in the direction of making it an act during its forthcoming session," he said.
"The auspicious phase for all good works to be done has begun with the Sun God moving northwards. The consecration of the Ram temple in Ayodhya has taken place, the interim budget has been presented in Parliament and the draft of UCC has also been received," the chief minister said.
Background
Chief Minister Dhami during the 2022 state assembly elections had formed a committee under the chairmanship of Justice Desai to implement the UCC. Constituted for six months initially, it was given four extensions to look into all aspects before finalising its report. The latest extension was 15 days in January this year.
It received 2.33 lakh written suggestions and held 60 meetings in which the members interacted with around 60,000 people in the course of preparing the draft.
Former Uttarakhand chief secretary and committee member Shatrughan Singh further explained the process: "The expert committee had formed a sub-committee to discuss and gather suggestions from specific members of society, social workers, religious leaders, saints, and aware citizens. The committee visited various regions of the state and gathered suggestions from people in open meetings. In this way, the committee received nearly 2.5 lakh suggestions".
The committee also discussed the UCC draft report with the Central Law Commission, and after these marathon efforts, the final draft was prepared.
Other members of the panel were retired chief justice of Sikkim High Court Pramod Kohli, social activist Manu Gaur, and Vice Chancellor of Doon University Surekha Dangwal.
UCC Bill likely to be discussed on Feb 6
In the state cabinet meeting called on Saturday, the government will discuss the UCC draft report and approve the bill.
Subsequently, during the legislative assembly session starting from February 5, the UCC Bill will be presented on the floor of the House. There is a possibility that it will be brought into the house on February 6.
The BJP has a majority of 47 MLAs in the 70-member Uttarakhand Assembly. Following its passage in the House, the bill will be submitted to the Governor for approval, and upon receiving the Governor's endorsement, it will be enacted as a law within the state.
(With additional inputs from PTI)
