UCC likely in monsoon session
By Anushtup Haldar
With time running out as the general election is just a year away, the BJP is likely to introduce the bill on uniform civil code (UCC) in the upcoming monsoon session, with padding support from the 22nd Law Commission, which, suddenly on June 14, brought a notification seeking the public’s views on the issue within 30 days—this, when the commission’s previous iteration had clearly made a case against UCC for a culturally diverse country like India.
The government could well table the draft bill on uniform civil code (UCC), a pet agenda of the right-wing BJP government, in the upcoming monsoon session, most likely beginning in the third week of July.
The highly contentious bill seeks to do away with religious community-based personal laws and has been opposed by various non-Hindu community representations, most vociferously by the All India Personal Law Board (AIPLB), for what they, and most secular-minded individuals, see as the imposition of a majoritarian communal agenda.
The idea of the introduction of the bill in the immediate future was set in motion by the 22nd Law Commission’s June 14 notification giving various stakeholders—including public and religious organisations—30 days to send in their opinions on the matter.
Interestingly, the 21st Law Commission had, in an August 2018-published consultation paper, opposed the need for a uniform civil code, laying stress instead on the need to maintain India’s “cultural diversity”, and saying that differences do not always imply discrimination in a robust democracy.
The imminence of the UCC bill’s introduction was further strengthened by Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s exhortation for a uniform civil code across the country at a recent rally for the Madhya Pradesh Assembly elections. It sent the AIMPLB into a late-night huddle the same day where it decided to firmly present its view opposing the code before the Law Commission.
Also, it must be remembered that this has been a long-term electoral promise of the BJP, along with the repeal of Article 370 in Jammu and Kashmir and the construction of a ‘grand’ Ram temple in Ayodhya. Article 370 is done and dusted, Ram temple is likely to be inaugurated early next year, in time for the general elections. Only UCC is left, and the BJP will surely push strongly for it.
