New Delhi: Supreme court has rejected a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) which challenged the decision by Gujarat and Uttarakhand government to appoint committees for the introduction and implementation of the Uniform Civil Code (UCC).
According to a bench consisting of Chief Justice DY Chandrachud and Justice PS Narasimha emphasised that it is impossible to dispute the committee’s composition on its own, and the argument of the petitioner Anoop Baranwal is “without substance”.
The constitution of the committees formed by Gujarat and Uttarakhand to develop the UCC has been contested in the suit by Baranwal.
The court said that a state’s executive authority is only limited by what the legislature has given it permission to do. As a result, the court stated that since the Constitution gives state governments the authority to create committees, doing so is legal.
The court said that they had established the committee using their executive authority.
Harsh Sanghavi, the home minister for Gujarat, said in October 2022 that a committee would be established to apply the Uniform Civil Code (UCC) in the state. In the cabinet meeting, the decision was taken. The Uttarakhand government established a committee in May 2022 to look into how it was implemented in the state.
The Uniform Civil Code is a proposal in India to formulate and implement personal laws of citizens which apply to all citizens equally regardless of their religion, gender and sexual orientation.
Indian Muslims claim that the action is intended to target them and prohibit them from enjoying their freedom to practise their religion by meddling with their domestic laws.
The Hindu extremist organisations in India have actively supported the UCC, frequently making remarks against the Muslim population and claiming that they “need to be taught a lesson.”
