The five-member committee formed by the Gujarat government to assess the need to have a common civil code, and to prepare a draft law for the same, began its consultation process on Tuesday even as the state government extended the time limit for the panel to submit its report by another 45 days.
Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel had announced the formation of the committee last month. The committee is headed by retired judge of the Supreme Court, Ranjana Desai. Four other members of the committee include retired IAS officer C L Meena, senior advocate R C Kodekar, former vice-chancellor of Veer Narmad South Gujarat University Dakshesh Thaker, and social activist Gita Shroff. The committee was formed with a deadline to submit its report in 45 days.
On Tuesday, the committee convened its meeting at its office at Karmayogi Bhavan in the state capital and also launched a portal – – where residents of Gujarat, government agencies, non-government organisations, social groups and communities, religious institutions, political parties and others can register their suggestions.
Addressing media persons, Justice (retired) Desai said, “From today, our work will begin. The committee has been given the task to assess requirements of UCC and to implement the same in Gujarat. After an assessment, we will make a draft (code). For that, we will do public consultation.”
She said that for public consultation, two sub-committees have been formed to carry out public consultation and prepare the draft. The committee members will soon start visiting different districts for the public consultation. As per a PTI report, Justice Desai said, “We will focus more on equal rights to women and care for children…Marriages and divorces will have to be registered, but rituals of marriage are not to be disturbed.”
Registration of all marriages and divorces is the only requirement, and divorces will have to be carried out as per the law, she said, adding that a draft for the law of inheritance and live-in relationships will be prepared soon.
“The task of drafting will start soon. And we hope that it is completed as early as possible…But before that, public consultation will be done with common people, religious leaders and press… If we want to bring a law, (it is important to know) what do the people have to say,” Justice Desai said.
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She also said that the committee will study the suggestions, opinions and objections before making its report as early as possible. About UCC, Justice Desai said that it has been implemented in Uttarakhand. She said UCC is in the directive principles of the Constitution, and “even the Supreme Court has passed several judgments regarding this”.
Meanwhile, the Gujarat government, in an official statement, stated that the UCC committee had sought to extend the time limit to submit its report and accordingly, a resolution has been passed on Tuesday while extending the time limit by 45 more days.
Earlier, while speaking with media persons, Desai had stated that it was difficult to meet the deadline of 45 days if proper public consultation was to be done.
A number of people made representations before the UCC committee from Tuesday, including tribal MLA of the AAP Chaitar Vasava. He said, “While we are open to dialogue, if tribals were to be included in the UCC, we will protest from Sadak to Sadan (street to legislature).”
Sources in the UCC committee said that on Tuesday, the panel members met spiritual leaders from Jain, Hindus, Muslims, Buddhist, Swaminarayan communities, among others. Among political leaders, Congress’s Imran Khedawala besides representatives from the BSP (Bahujan Samaj Party) and the BJP (Bharatiya Janata Party) were present.
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Besides, doctors, lawyers and engineers who were present on Tuesday gave their views on UCC.
‘Will destroy traditional laws’: AAP’s Vasava writes to committee
The tribal people have their “own traditions and rituals” and implementation of the Uniform Civil Code (UCC) will destroy these traditional laws, said AAP Dediapada MLA Chaitar Vasava while making a representation to the committee.
AAP Dediapada MLA Chaitar Vasava
The MLA made oral and written representations to the committee headed by retired SC judge Ranjana Desai, to “leave the tribal populations out of the ambit of the new law” even as the Gujarat government appointed panel met in Gandhinagar on Tuesday. In his written representation, Vasava stated, “There are 705 Scheduled Tribes in India with a population of 10.53 crore according to the 2011 census which is 12.5-13 crore today. The tribals account for 14.85% of the population in Gujarat which comes to 1.25 crore. These are the original inhabitants of the land.”
Speaking outside Mahatma Mandir in Gandhinagar after making his 15-minute official representation to the UCC committee, Vasava said, “We told the committee that the tribal people, who have been living in this country since ancient times, have their own traditions and rituals. The implementation of the UCC will destroy these traditional laws.”
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Listing some of these tribal traditions related to marriage and inheritance, Vasava said they included “the acceptance of eloping couples as being married, their children being considered legitimate, and divorce through community ‘panch’ for those who did not want to be together. Those who don’t have sons can also proclaim their sons-in-law as heirs. Further, widows and widowers have permission to remarry and polygamy is also accepted. These are traditional laws of tribals …”
In his written representation, Vasava claimed that the implementation of the UCC would “impact the constitutional protections guaranteed to the tribal people including those under Article 371, Schedules 5 and 6, The Provisions of the Panchayats (Extension to the Scheduled Areas) Act and land protection under Section 73AA of the Gujarat Land Revenue Code that restricts the transfer of tribal land to non-tribals without the Collector’s permission…”
He added, “We have appealed that the tribals be kept out of the UCC framework and we hope this assurance will be given in writing to the tribals as soon as possible… ”
Speaking on equal representation from all communities, Vasava asserted, “The committee planning to implement UCC in Gujarat should visit all the areas of the state, meet MPs and MLAs, speak to religious and social leaders, NGOs of all communities and only then take a call on this matter.”