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Synopsis

At a high-level meeting chaired by Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Monday, he expressed his keenness to introduce the Uniform Civil Code (UCC) Bill in the Monsoon session of Parliament in July, as per a report by TNE.

Union law minister Kiren Rijiju, Solicitor General (SG) Tushar Mehta, Senior government officials from various agencies, BJP President J P Nadda, and RSS joint general secretary Arun Kumar were among those present at the meeting. Shah reportedly stated that the Bill should be prepared by July.

In March, SG Mehta told the Supreme Court that the Centre is in favor of a UCC and that it is up to Parliament, not the courts, to enact it. Rijiju had previously informed Parliament that the 22nd Law Commission would review various UCC-related issues and offer recommendations.

Notably, in January 2022, the Centre opposed a plea seeking directions from the Delhi High Court to the Central Government for formulation of a Uniform Civil Code within three months. The Central Government had then informed the court that it is outside of the powers of a writ court to issue a writ of mandamus to the government in this regard, as this is a policy matter.

The affidavit filed by the Centre stated that in view of the "importance of the subject matter and sensitivity involved" the subject "requires in-depth study of the provisions of various personal laws governing different communities."

The government said, "The Law Commission after receiving several representations from various stakeholders undertook detailed research on the matter and had uploaded a consultation paper on 31 August 2018, titled 'Reform of Family Law' in its website http://www.lawcommissionofindia.nic.in for wider discussions."

It also stated that "as and when the report of Law Commission is received, the government would examine the same" in consultation with various stakeholders.