Muslims should be given a choice if they want to choose Uniform Civil Code (UCC) or Muslim Personal Law to settle property-related disputes, was one of the suggestions that was given to the expert committee formed by the Uttarakhand government to examine ways for the implementation of UCC in the State.
The committee had organised a public dialogue program in Delhi on Wednesday (June 14) in which the non-residential natives of Uttarakhand have suggested including a rule in the UCC draft under which the widow of martyrs should be compelled to take care of her deceased husband’s parents in case she receives the compensation from the government for the death of the soldier.
The attendees of the dialogue program gave mixed responses on topics like providing legal rights to live-in relationships and marriage rights to LGBTQ partners. The participants offered suggestions to ease the adoption and divorce laws as they claim that two are extremely time-consuming and tiring.
One of the suggestions received by the committee was that childless fathers should be allowed to do more than one marriage. Another attendee suggested that a law could be made to make relatives and kin liable for taking care of a mentally challenged person in their family.
Talking to the media, retired Justice Ranjana Prakash, who is heading the UCC committee formed by the State, said that Uttarakhand’s draft for UCC is almost ready and will be shared with the government with no delay.
Sharing the work done by the committee last year, the committee said that it had done a total of 51 meetings in 13 districts of the State and three public dialogue programs have been organised in Nainital, Dehradun, Delhi in which more than 2 lakh suggestions/opinions were received.
The committee has also met with the chairman/members of State-level commissions of Uttarakhand and all political parties in the State to know their valuable suggestions which will be included in the UCC draft.
Also, over 3 lakh hand-written letters, 60,000 mails and 22,000 suggestions were uploaded on their website by the residents of the hill State sharing their views and recommendations for ‘One Law For All’. Among the suggestions – mostly received from tribal belts, rural and hilly areas – residents sought policy on ‘reverse inheritance’ (parents to have right to their children’s property), same age for marriage for both genders and total ban on polygamy and polyandry.
UCC was part of BJP’s election manifesto during the Assembly polls in 2022. Headed by retd Justice Desai, who is also the current head of the delimitation commission, the committee comprised retired Justice Pramod Kohli, social worker Manu Gaur (heading Taxpayers Association of Bharat), retired IAS officer Shatrughan Singh and Vice Chancellor of Doon University Surekha Dangwal.
Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami had said that the State had formed the body to examine the relevant laws regulating personal civil matters of residents of the State. The committee is also tasked to prepare draft law/laws or suggest changes in existing laws on the subject that includes marriage, divorce, property rights, succession/inheritance, adoption, maintenance, custody and guardianship.
