Basking in the success of the recently held Global Investors Summit-2023, the Pushkar Singh Dhami government is now planning to become the first state in the country to implement the uniform civil code (UCC). The government is contemplating to hold a special session of the State assembly for the purpose. It is learnt that the special session of the assembly can be convened any time after January 22, 2024. In this session the bill for uniform civil code can be placed in the assembly. It is pertinent to mention here that the grand ceremony of the Pran Pratishtha (consecration) of Lord Ram in the Ayodhya will be done on January 22. Held in the aftermath of the opening of the Ram temple in Ayodhya, the special session of the State assembly on implementation of UCC is expected to give a major political mileage to the Dhami government. In the run up for the assembly elections of 2022, the chief minister Pushkar Singh Dhami had promised that the BJP government would bring a uniform civil code in the state and in the very first meeting of the state cabinet after swearing in of the new government last year, a decision to constitute an expert committee was made.
The committee on UCC is headed by retired Justice Ranjana Prakash Desai. Justice (Rtd) Pramod Kohli, social worker Manu Gaur, former chief secretary of Uttarakhand Shatrughan Singh and Vice Chancellor (VC) of Doon University Surekha Dangwal are the members of the committee.
The committee was mandated to examine all existing and relevant laws regarding marriage, divorce, right for property, inheritance, adoption and protection for implementation of UCC in the state. The extended tenure of the expert committee will end on January 27,2024 before which it will submit its report to the State government. Based on the report of the committee the bill on UCC in the State will be drafted.