"Communities Are Cooperating": Uttarakhand Uniform Civil Code Panel Chief

New Delhi:

Uttarakhand Uniform Civil Code (UCC) Chairperson Justice (Retd) Ranjana Prakash Desai on Friday met Law Commission Chairman Justice (Retd) Rituraj Awasthi in Uttarakhand Sadan in the national capital.

During the meeting, UCC President Ranjana Prakash Desai shared information about the work done so far in Uttarakhand in relation to the UCC, with the Chairman of the National Law Commission.

The Committee, headed by former Supreme Court judge, Justice (retired) Ranjana Prakash Desai, was formed to examine ways for the implementation of the Uniform Civil Code (UCC).

"Smt Ranjana Prakash Desai further told that the work of basic consultation on the Uniform Civil Code has been done in Uttarakhand so far. A lot of work has been done on UCC. Discussions have been held with all the stakeholders of the Uniform Civil Code in the state," an official stamen from the Uttarakhand government said.

She further said that the sub-committees of the UCC have held discussions in this regard with various religions, communities, stakeholders and sections.

"A meeting has also been held with all the political parties in this regard and their suggestions have been obtained," Ms Desai told Rituraj Awasthi.

Ms Desai also expressed her hope that everyone will like the draft on UCC.

"Our meetings on UCC are still going on continuously. In this direction, we are getting cooperation from all the communities," she said during her meeting with Mr Awasthi.

The Uttarakhand government on May 27 last year announced its decision to implement the Uniform Civil Code in the state.

The State government constituted the five-member committee led by Ms Desai, to prepare a draft proposal for implementation of the UCC, broadly relating to the personal laws of citizens which apply to all regardless of their religion, gender or sexual orientation.

The panel also includes Justice Permod Kohli (retired), social activist Manu Gaur, former Chief Secretary Shatrughan Singh and Vice Chancellor of Doon University Surekha Dangwal.

Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami has earlier said that the committee will submit its report by June 30 this year.

The Uniform Civil Code is a proposal in India to formulate and implement personal laws of citizens which apply to all citizens equally regardless of their religion, sex, gender and sexual orientation. Currently, the personal laws of various communities are governed by their religious scriptures.

The code comes under Article 44 of the Constitution which lays down that the state shall endeavour to secure a Uniform Civil Code for the citizens throughout the territory of India.

Notably, in BJP's 2019 Lok Sabha election manifesto, the party promised the implementation of UCC if it came to power.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)