Voice of the People Party MPs on Standing Committee given 2018 Law Commission report that says UCC is ‘not necessary or desirable’

The Parliamentary Standing Committee on Law and Justice headed by Bharatiya Janata Party MP Sushil Modi has called a meeting on July 3 to begin deliberations on the Uniform Civil Code. The consultation paper titled ‘Reform of Family Law’, which the committee is using as the basis for its debate while advocating against a UCC has argued for the “codification of all personal laws so that prejudices and stereotypes in every one of them would come to light and could be tested on the anvil of Fundamental Rights guaranteed by the Constitution”. Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh, in a statement on June 15, a day after the 22nd Law Commission announced its intention to revisit the subject, pointed to para 1.15 of the paper, which states that a UCC is “neither necessary nor desirable” at this stage. Questioning the Law Commission’s decision to revisit the issue, he had said, “This latest attempt represents the Modi government’s desperation for legitimate justification of its continuing agenda of polarisation and diversion from its glaring failures.” The Congress does not needlessly want to wade into the UCC debate when the government, beyond rhetorical statements, hasn’t come up with any concrete draft Bill or consultative paper on the issue.