Uttarakhand Convenes Special Assembly Session on Feb 5 to Pass Bill on Uniform Civil Code: Reports

On December 22, the state cabinet, headed by Pushkar Singh Dhami, approved the recommendations of the committee which was constituted to look into the question of Uniform Civil Code in the state.

The Wire Staff

On December 22, the state cabinet, headed by Pushkar Singh Dhami, approved the recommendations of the committee which was constituted to look into the question of Uniform Civil Code in the state.

uttarakhand convenes special assembly session on feb 5 to pass bill on uniform civil code reports

Uttarakhand legislative assembly. Photo: https://ukvidhansabha.uk.gov.in/

New Delhi: A special Assembly session has been convened by the Bharatiya Janata Party-led Uttarakhand government from February 5 to discuss and pass a Bill on the implementation of the Uniform Civil Code in the state, reports quoting state government officials said.

The government so far has not issued the details of the legislative agenda, and it is expected to be finalised in the business advisory council meeting to be held before the commencement of the session.

Meanwhile, a five-member committee, led by former Supreme Court judge Justice Ranjana Prakash Desai, is expected to submit the full report on the implementation of the uniform civil code to the Pushkar Singh Dhami's government on February 2. The term of the committee ended on January 26, but it was extended by two weeks by the government.

Dhami hinted about the Bill during his Republic Day address on January 26. "The draft has been prepared by the draft committee. Soon we will implement this..." Dhami said on Wednesday.

On December 22, 2023, the state cabinet, headed by Dhami, approved the recommendations of the committee. The report emphasised gender equality and women's rights on ancestral properties but stopped short of making any recommendations on the marriage age of women. A detailed is expected to be submitted to the government on February 2.

During the 2022 Assembly elections, the Bhartiya Janata Party had promised the enforcement of uniform civil laws in the state. The Uniform Civil Code (UCC) has, for years, been a constant in the manifesto of the BJP, along with the construction of a Ram Temple in Ayodhya, and the abrogation of Article 370, both of which are now a reality. In January 2023, the Supreme Court ruled that states are well within their rights to constitute committees to examine the feasibility of implementing the Uniform Civil Code.

A uniform civil code relates to a common set of laws that will subsume customary laws across faiths and tribes and govern issues such as marriage, divorce, inheritance, and maintenance.

According to the Hindustan Times, Dhami explained the reasons for bringing a UCC by saying that it is "to provide uniformity (in law) to all religious communities and to preserve the culture of Devbhoomi, the land of Gods.. as had been promised in our manifesto at the time of elections". Uttarakhand has a 13.9% Muslim population according to the 2011 census, mostly in the Terai area. Those opposed to UCC see it as against the rights of religious and other minorities.

This article went live on January twenty-seventh, two thousand twenty four, at fifty-two minutes past one in the afternoon.

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