Uttarakhand Draft Civil Code to be submitted to govt soon: Committee head

economictimes.indiatimes.com:

New Delhi: The draft of the proposed uniform civil code for Uttarakhand is complete and will be submitted to the state government soon, expert committee chairperson justice (retd) Ranjana Desai said on Friday. Addressing a press conference in New Delhi, Desai said: «The report of the committee and the draft code would be printed and submitted to the government of Uttarakhand.» Desai said while there was some natural opposition to the idea, overall there was overwhelming support for UCC and assured that the panel's report will only strengthen the social fabric of the country and boost gender equality.

The Uttarakhand government had constituted an expert committee under retired Supreme Court judge Desai in May last year to examine the laws regulating personal civil matters and to prepare draft laws or suggest changes on matters such as marriage, divorce, property rights, succession, inheritance, adoption, maintenance, custody, and guardianship. A notification in this regard was issued on May 27, 2022, and the terms of reference were notified on June 10 last year.

Replying to questions, Desai refused to share the details of the draft UCC or the committee's report, saying it has to be first submitted to the state government. «Our emphasis is to ensure gender equality, with keeping women, children and disabled persons in focus.

We have tried to bring everyone on an equal footing with elimination of arbitrariness and discrimination,» she said. «We have seen everything, studied personal laws.

We have also studied the Law Commission's report. If you read our draft you will feel that the committee has considered everything,» she said.