West Bengal Govt likely to table Uniform Civil Code draft bill in Monsoon Session: Sources
The Bengal BJP Government inched closer towards implementing the much-talked-about Uniform Civil Code in the State with Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari on Thursday taking the draft bill for a discussion in the Cabinet, sources said, adding the bill would “most likely” be tabled in the State Assembly in the coming Monsoon Session in the month of August.
An expert panel headed by former Supreme Court Judge Justice Ranjana Prakash Desai has been constituted to evaluate the Bill and submit its report in four weeks’ time. The Bill that was likely to be shaped after similar UCC laws implemented earlier in the States of Gujarat, Assam and Uttarakhand would focus on a total of nine subjects, including marriage, succession, divorce, adoption, inheritance, live-in relationships, custody of children, etc. The expert panel will conduct a study on the nine issues before submitting its report to the State Government.
Earlier, announcing the Government’s plan to implement the UCC, the Chief Minister clarified that ancient tribal communities would be kept out of the purview of the Bill.
During a speech in the State Assembly, the Chief Minister earlier said that “the UCC will certainly be implemented in Bengal … we are determined to implement it … the (passing of the) Bill has a procedure … this will be done after examining the examples of Gujarat, Assam and Uttarakhand.”
Reacting to the comments from the Opposition Bench, the Chief Minister said, “The Bill will be tabled in August … before that, you keep your views before the (expert) Committee … But let me make my point clear that we are determined to implement this Bill and it will definitely be implemented.”
The BJP had, during the election campaign, promised to bring UCC to Bengal, saying a time had come when “religion-based personal laws should end.” The State’s Muslim community was, however, opposing the bill, saying, “It is an infringement in the private affairs of the minorities.”
The Chief Minister also took stock of the welfare schemes and law and order situation in the State during the first two months of his rule, sources said.
The stock-taking situation comes close on the heels of a chief ministerial assurance to the bureaucrats that his Government would not interfere in their day-to-day business and that they would be free to take their own decisions as per law.
