Implementing a uniform civil code is a part of the newly-sworn-in Union government’s agenda, said Union Law Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal on Tuesday, according to PTI.
The Uniform Civil Code, an ideological plank of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party, is a proposed common set of laws governing marriage, divorce, succession and adoption for all citizens. Currently, the personal affairs of different religious and tribal groups – except in Uttarakhand and Goa – are based on community-specific laws, largely derived from religious scripture.
In May, Union Home Minister Amit Shah had said that the Uniform Civil Code would be implemented nationwide within the next five years if the BJP came to power in the Lok Sabha polls.
However, on June 7, three days after the National Democratic Alliance emerged victorious in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, Janata Dal (United) National Spokesperson KC Tyagi said that his party would want “all stakeholders, chief ministers, political parties and sects should be consulted to prepare a draft” of the uniform civil code.
The Janata Dal (United) is a key ally in the Bharatiya Janata Party-led coalition.
On Tuesday, Meghwal also said that a solution will also be found on the Memorandum of Procedure, a set of rules framed together by the government and judiciary laying down the process for appointing, elevating and transferring High Court and Supreme Court judges.
"I believe that we will certainly find a solution to it," the law minister said.
In January last year, former Law Minister Kiren Rijiju had said that an updated Memorandum of Procedure was pending finalisation. He had noted that a constitution bench of the Supreme Court, while striking down the National Judicial Appointments Commission Act in 2014, had called for restructuring the Memorandum of Procedure.
The National Judicial Appointments Commission had been introduced by the Narendra Modi government soon after coming to power in 2014. The commission was to replace the collegium system of making appointments to the higher judiciary.
While the government has pushed for a relook at the Memorandum of Procedure, the Supreme Court has insisted that the current document is final.
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