Drafting for Uttrakhand Uniform Civil Code complete, expert panel states interacted with all stakeholders

New Delhi [India], June 30 : The draft of the proposed Uniform Civil Code for Uttarakhand is complete and the report of the expert Committee along with the draft code would soon be printed and submitted to the Government of Uttarakhand.

This announcement was made by the Expert Committee, which was appointed last year to work on the Uniform Civil Code.

The report will go to the state Cabinet and it will decide whether to table it in the state legislature, the committee informed.

Uttarakhand UCC said that all due care has been taken in preparing the draft and the aim is to bring equality and dignity across sections.

They stated that they have received a significant response in favour of the UCC, although some opposing views were also expressed.

"We have got an overwhelming response in support of UCC, and some views also came against also, stated the panelists.

The committee said that it has painstakingly taken into account all shades of opinions and looked into the various statutes and uncodified laws including the statutory framework in select countries.

The expert panel said that statistical analysis and empirical data were also included in the draft.

It further mentioned that 10 million is the total population of Uttarakhand. We got more than 2.31 lakh in written suggestions. It is a good sample size that has been considered.

Besides the Committee has tried to understand the finer nuances of the various customary practices that prevail in different parts of the State.

The committee stated that it has also interacted with the representatives of political parties, state statutory commissions as well as with leaders of various religious denominations.

Doctors and experts have also been consulted, issues such as the age of marriage, and age of consent issues have been considered. Issues such as Live-in, LGBT, and child marriages all have been discussed.

The Chairperson of the Law Commission of India had requested interaction with the members of the Expert Committee. This interaction was held on June 2, 2023, wherein members as well as chairpersons of both the Law Commission and the Expert Committee were present.

The Uttarakhand government last year had formed a five-member committee headed by a retired Supreme Court judge to prepare a draft on the implementation of the Uniform Civil Code (UCC) in the state. Chairman ( retired Supreme Court Justice) Ranjana Prakash Desai is a former judge of the Supreme Court.

The committee also included Retd. Justice Permod Kohli as well as other members include Manu Gaur, Retd IAS MR Shatrughna Singh, Prof. Surekha Dangwal and Ajay Mishra, who is the Secretary of the panel.

The Government of Uttarakhand constituted an Expert Committee to examine the various existing laws regulating personal civil matters of the residents of Ut

tarakhand. The notification in this regard was issued on May 27, 2022, and the terms of reference were notified on June 10 2022.

The Committee held its first meeting on July 4, 2022. Since then, the Committee has met 63 times.

A sub-committee was constituted last year to elicit public opinion by inviting written submissions as well as by organising public dialogue programs.

The sub-committee began its public outreach program from the border tribal village Mana and visited 40 different places in the State covering all the districts, which culminated in a public discussion in Delhi on June 14 2023 with participation from the residents of Uttarakhand staying in the National Capital Region. The sub-committee met 143 times in Dehradun and other places.