Senior BJP leader and head of Parliamentary Standing Committee on Personnel, Public Grievances, Law and Justice, Sushil Modi on Friday said the panel will seek the views of all stakeholders on the issue of the Uniform Civil Code (UCC) in its meeting on July 3.
Talking to reporters here on Friday, Modi said that the meeting of the committee is non-political as the panel has members from all political parties.
“We will discuss the Law Commission’s report on the UCC on July 3. If required, we will call another meeting to discuss the matter further. The committee is completely neutral,” he said.
Members of the committee have been informed that their inputs on UCC will be sought and considered during the July 3 meeting.
According to the schedule of the standing committee, the panel will hear the views of representatives of the law panel and legal affairs and legislative departments of the law ministry on a public notice issued by the Law Commission of India on June 14, 2023, inviting views from the various stakeholders on the Uniform Civil Code under the subject ‘Review of Personal Laws’.
Till Tuesday evening, the law panel had received nearly 8.5 lakh responses on its public notice.
UCC refers to a common set of laws governing personal matters like marriage, divorce, inheritance and adoption, among others, of all citizens.
“In more than a dozen cases, the Supreme Court has said that the UCC should be implemented as soon as possible. The court has repeated this time and again,” Modi said.
“I don’t understand why the same age for marriage can’t be fixed for all. It is being propagated that the UCC will affect religious customs and rituals. If criminal law is the same for all people in the country, then why can’t civil law be that way?” Modi said.
The prime minister had on Tuesday made a fresh pitch for UCC at a rally in Bhopal, evoking criticism from the opposition, which has claimed it was “polarisation” tactics.
Reports suggest that the NDA government at the Centre may introduce a bill on implementing the UCC during the upcoming monsoon session of Parliament, set to begin in the third week of July.
