Team News Riveting
Ahmedabad, October 29
The Gujarat cabinet on Saturday passed a proposal to form a committee to implement the Uniform Civil Code (UCC).
The decision was taken at the last cabinet meeting of the present BJP government as Assembly elections are expected to be announced in the state by the next week.
“The committee will be headed by a retired High Court judge and have three to four members,” Gujarat Minister of State for Home Harsh Sanghavi and Union Minister Parshottam Rupala told reporters. Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel has been given powers by the cabinet to select members of the committee, they added.
The committee will be formed before the model code of conduct for elections comes into force, he added. Sanghavi said the decision was taken as per the provisions of Article 44 of Part 4 of the Constitution which expects the state government to apply common law for all citizens.
“This is a historic decision by Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel. Our government has honoured the wish of common people as well as BJP workers to have such a code,” Sanghavi said.
Rupala asserted that the proposed UCC will not violate the fundamental rights guaranteed under the Constitution. “The Hindu Marriage Act and Muslim personal laws will be covered under the UCC as these laws are not part of the Constitution,” the Union Minister added.
“We do not intend to override the fundamental rights of the people. UCC is about resolving discrepancies which arise in civil disputes, such as wife or daughter’s claim on husband or father’s property. We had received many representations from people about such issues,” said Rupala, adding that the decision had nothing to do with the coming Assembly polls, he claimed, and dismissed the criticism by the opposition that the ruling BJP was trying to polarize Hindu votes by promising UCC.
Meanwhile, the Gujarat Congress on Saturday said people would not be misled by the BJP government’s decision to form a committee for the implementation of the Uniform Civil Code. Calling it a “gimmick” ahead of Assembly elections, senior Congress leader Arjun Modhwadia said the state legislature has no power to make such laws.
No deadline has been set for the committee to submit its report as of now. The BJP governments in Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh had earlier announced the implementation of the UCC in their states.
