The Chhattisgarh Cabinet on Wednesday decided to set up a high-level committee to prepare a draft of a uniform civil code for the state.
It has become the third Bharatiya Janata Party-ruled state to take steps towards implementing such a code. While Uttarakhand began implementing a common personal law framework in January 2025, the Gujarat Assembly passed a uniform civil code bill on March 25.
The Uniform Civil Code refers to a common set of laws governing marriage, divorce, succession and adoption for all citizens. Currently, the personal affairs of religious and tribal groups are based on community-specific laws, largely derived from religious scripture.
Chhattisgarh’s Uniform Civil Code panel will be headed by former Supreme Court judge Ranjana Prakash Desai. She had also headed the committees based on whose recommendations the Uttarakhand and Gujarat governments framed their Uniform Civil Code bills.
On Wednesday, the Chhattisgarh government said that in order to create a draft law that “simplifies and unifies” personal laws of diverse communities and to make such a code legally sound, the committee will invite suggestions from citizens and experts.
The draft law will later be presented before the state cabinet and Assembly, the government said.
“As envisaged under Article 44 of the Constitution of India, the move towards a Uniform Civil Code is aimed at ensuring legal uniformity, simplifying judicial processes, and promoting religious as well as gender equality,” The Hindu quoted an unidentified government official as saying.
Article 44 of the Constitution says that the state should “endeavour to secure for the citizens a Uniform Civil Code throughout the territory of India”. However, the provision is part of Directive Principles of State Policy and is thus not legally binding.
Commenting on the cabinet decision, the Congress said that a uniform civil code would harm Chhattisgarh’s Adivasi communities, which account for over 30% of the state’s population.
“The tribals are the only ones in the state who have special constitutional protections compared to other people living in the state,” The Hindu quoted state Congress president Deepak Baij as saying. “Apart from this, there is no other class in Chhattisgarh for which special civil rights are applicable.”
Baij alleged that the BJP was trying to “rob the interests of the tribals” by introducing a uniform civil code.
Introducing a common personal law has long been on the BJP’s agenda. Last year, BJP-ruled Uttarakhand became the first state to implement the Uniform Civil Code after independence. A common civil code has been in place in Goa since the Portuguese Civil Code was adopted in 1867.
In its campaign for the Uniform Civil Code in Uttarakhand, the BJP had mainly targeted Muslim personal law, arguing that it discriminated against women as it allows Muslim men to practice polygamy, inherit a greater share of property, initiate divorce and deny alimony.
Legal experts have said that Uttarakhand’s Uniform Civil Code is drawn primarily from Hindu personal law and could lead to the erasure of the personal law practices of minority communities.
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