KOLKATA: The West Bengal cabinet headed by Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari on Thursday approved the formation of a committee led by Ranjana Prakash Desai, a retired Supreme Court judge, to review the draft Uniform Civil Code (UCC) Bill.
Justice Desai has chaired similar UCC panels in BJP-ruled Uttarakhand, Gujarat and Chhattisgarh.
The state urban development and municipal affairs minister, Agnimitra Paul, said that the panel would have four weeks to scrutinise the draft legislation and submit its recommendations.
"Following it, the draft legislation will be placed in the legislative Assembly," Paul told reporters after the meeting at the state secretariat Nabanna.
The committee includes a retired IAS officer, one legal expert, one educationist, one social activist and an additional secretary of the state government’s general administration wing.
Suvendu made an official announcement in the Assembly three days ago in this regard.
In Bengal, the proposed UCC legislation will follow the UCC Bill, 2026 of the Gujarat model, the UCC Act of Assam and the UCC Act, 2024 of Uttarakhand.
“The committee would submit its report within four weeks, and the UCC Bill would be presented in the Assembly in August following the recommendations of the committee,” Suvendu had announced in the House.
“The Adivasis, Kurmis and other ancient recognised tribals will be kept out of the provisions of the proposed legislation. The implementation of the proposed UCC legislation was an electoral promise of the Bharatiya Janata Party’s Sankalpa Patra (election manifesto). We are determined to fulfil the promise. We will implement what we have mentioned in the Sankalpa Patra,” Suvendu had said in the House.
According to him, there would be a uniform legislation across the state, instead of separate religion-based personal law.
The proposal for approval of the UCC Bill draft will be brought up in the coming state cabinet meeting scheduled on 2 July.
The committee will conduct surveys on the conventional existing laws in connection with marriage, divorce issues, live-in relationships and matters related to adoption and succession.
The rebel Trinamool Congress MLAs led by Ritabrata Banerjee, Leader of the Opposition (LoP), had opposed the UCC Bill proposal while Suvendu was addressing the assembly.
Political analysts in the city felt that the move to introduce the UCC Bill is likely to trigger intense political and legal debate in the state, with opposition parties, including the Trinamool Congress led by Mamata Banerjee, former CM, previously expressing concerns over the UCC, arguing that personal laws are closely linked to religious freedoms and community identities.
