New Delhi: The Congress and ally Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) have been essentially the most strident strident among the many opposition events to oppose the Uniform Civil Code (UCC), which got here up for dialogue within the parliamentary standing committee on personnel, public grievances, legislation and justice Monday, ThePrint has learnt.
Whereas the Bharatiya Rashtra Samithi (BRS) remained non-committal, the Bahujan Samaj Social gathering (BSP) and the Eknath Shinde-faction of the Shiv Sena supported the UCC whereas the Uddhav Thackeray faction wished the twenty second Regulation Fee of India to convey out its report first, MPs who attended the parliamentary panel assembly instructed ThePrint.
Whereas BJP MPs supported the implementation of UCC, a few of them, together with parliamentary panel chairman Sushil Kumar Modi, steered that the northeastern states and tribal areas needs to be exempted from it.
“They’re ruled by the sixth schedule and Article 371 (of the Structure), which provides them particular safety. This needs to be maintained,” a BJP MP instructed thePrint, justifying the stand.
The panel was listening to the views of the Division of Authorized Affairs, Legislative Division and the Regulation Fee of India on the UCC. Out of the 30 MPs who’re members of the parliamentary panel, solely 17 MPs from BJP, Congress, BRS, Shiv Sena, BSP, and DMK attended Monday’s assembly, which started with twenty second Regulation Fee member secretary Khetrabasi Biswal’s hour-long presentation of its 2018 session paper, Reform of Household Regulation.
When MPs requested why the twenty second Regulation Fee had sought feedback on UCC once more after it had already executed so on its 2018 session paper, the official stated that at the moment, they’d solely come out with a session paper, in line with an MP who attended the assembly.
“The fee knowledgeable the MPs that it had not given its advice again then. It’s solely now that it sought feedback from stakeholders on the evaluation of non-public legal guidelines,” the MP instructed ThePrint.
A second MP who attended the assembly quoted Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray) MP Sanjay Raut as insisting that the Regulation Fee ought to first submit its report for events to undergo earlier than taking an knowledgeable resolution.
The BRS can be learnt to have taken this stand.
“The BRS MP stated that the Regulation Fee ought to come out with their report first. There’s numerous clarification that’s required. Solely after going by means of the report, will it’s doable for the social gathering to take a stand,” the MP instructed ThePrint.
Parliamentary sources, in the meantime, quoted Congress as saying that the UCC was not required at this stage, as a substitute suggesting that every legislation be codified and discriminatory provisions weeded out.
On 14 June, the twenty second Regulation Fee of India had sought the views of non secular organisations and the general public on the problem of a UCC. The fee has set a 30-day deadline for suggestions on the problem.
A Uniform Civil Code (UCC) sometimes means having a standard legislation for all residents of the nation that’s not based mostly on faith. Private legal guidelines and legal guidelines associated to inheritance, adoption and succession are prone to be coated by a standard code.
Implementation of a UCC has been a part of successive BJP election manifestos, together with through the Karnataka meeting elections in Could.
Uttarakhand, which has a BJP authorities, is already framing its personal widespread code.
Additionally Learn: UCC can strengthen nation, however BJP elevating it to cowl up its failures, says Mayawati
‘Guarantee private legal guidelines don’t contract elementary rights’
Congress MP Vivek Tankha, who needed to depart the assembly halfway, submitted a written assertion to parliamentary social gathering chairperson Sushil Modi. He later tweeted the letter, through which he stated that the 2018 session paper, which states that whereas coping with the problem of UCC, the Structure of India, as a complete, it should be borne in thoughts “as uniformity will are available in battle with many provisions of the Structure of India”.
“Particularly, the sixth schedule and provisions contained in Articles 371 (A) to (I) of the Structure. It emphatically states that whereas coping with the problem it should be saved in thoughts that every one articles of the Structure of India should be given impact to, to keep away from the extremely vires of the identical,” his letter states.
He stated he concurred with the views of the fee that within the absence of any consensus on a UCC, one of the simplest ways ahead could also be to protect the range of non-public legal guidelines “however on the similar time make sure that private legal guidelines don’t contradict elementary rights assured underneath the Structure of India”.
“I reiterate the fee’s view that it’s important, at this stage, to take care of legal guidelines which might be discriminatory slightly than offering UCC, which is neither essential nor fascinating at this stage,” Tankha’s letter states.
The DMK additionally questioned the twenty second Regulation Fee’s resolution to reopen public session on UCC after the problem was studied in depth for 2 years by the twenty first Regulation Fee.
“To the general public at giant, it appears a response to the decision of the ruling BJP social gathering on the Centre to implement the UCC, with one eye on the 2024 Basic Elections,” DMK MP P. Wilson stated in a separate written assertion submitted to the parliamentary panel chairperson.
DMK opposed the UCC on the bottom that it desecrates a holy sacrament like marriage. A union between believers, it stated, needs to be inside the area of non secular establishments whereas civil codes might be utilized to atheists or interreligious marriages, as is already the case of the Particular Marriage Act, 1954.
One set of non-public legal guidelines, Wilson stated, can’t be utilized with “brute power to all religions, sub sects and denominations, else it is going to destroy their uniqueness and variety”.
Sushil Kumar Modi instructed ThePrint that Monday’s assembly was simply to make the members conscious of the topic.
“It was an introductory assembly”, he stated, including that the Regulation Fee of India instructed the panel that to this point, they have response from 19 lakh folks to their draft.
(Edited by Uttara Ramaswamy)
Additionally Learn: Uniform Civil Code is as previous as British rule. It could actually assist in higher implementation of legislation
