Gujarat Set up Ranjana Desai Committee on Uniform Civil Code
Committee and Commission
5 min read
The Gujarat Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel has announced the setting up of a committee headed by former Supreme Court judge Ranjana Desai, to assess the necessity of a Uniform Civil Code in the state.
The announcement of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) ruled Gujarat government assumes significance after the BJP-ruled Uttarakhand government became the first state in India after Independence to implement the Uniform Civil Code on 27 January 2025.
Composition of the Committee
The committee will consist of five members. The committee will be headed by former Judge of the Supreme Court Mrs. Ranajana Desai.
Mrs. Ranajan Desai was also the chairman of the committee set up by the Uttarakhand government to draft a model Uniform Civil Code for Uttarakhand.
The other members of the committee are as follows:
- Senior (retd.)IAS officer C.L. Meena,
- Advocate R.C. Kodekar,
- former Vice-Chancellor Dakshesh Thakar, and
- Social activist Ms Geetaben Shroff.
Terms of the Committee
- The committee will assess the necessity of a uniform civil code in Gujarat;
- Draft a model law for the state;
- The uniform civil code shall guarantee equal rights and privileges for all citizens in the state.
- The committee has been told to submit its report within 45 days.
About the Uniform Civil Code
The provision of a Uniform Civil Code is in Chapter IV of the Indian constitution and Article 44. Article 44 provides that the State shall endeavor to secure a uniform civil code for the citizens of India throughout the territory of India.
Both the Parliament and the state legislature can make laws on the uniform civil code.
India has a common criminal law but it does not have a uniform civil code except in Goa and Uttarakhand.
Difference Between the Criminal and the Civil Law
A country’s legal system has two branches- criminal and civil law.
In criminal law, the focus is on punishment while in civil law, the focus is on dispute resolution.
Criminal law refers to the law made to deal with crimes against society like arson, murder, theft, burglary. A person accused of violating criminal law is punished by a court of law according to the laws made by the competent legislature.
The law does not make any distinction between the accused on their religious or other social backgrounds.
In India, there is a uniform criminal law which is codified in the Indian Penal Code (IPC) 1860 which is being replaced by Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023.
Civil Law
Civil law deals with disputes between two parties that could be either individuals or organisations. Civil law deals with disputes regarding property succession, marriage, divorce, child adoption, etc.
Except in Goa and Uttarakhand, the civil dispute in other states of India is decided by the courts taking into account the person’s religion and the customary law.
A Uniform Civil Code means that the civil dispute will be decided by the law made by the state legislature and not according to religious traditions and customs.
Also Read: Uttarakhand becomes the first state to implement a Common Civil Code
