The Modi government has formally appointed the 23rd Law Commission in record time, designating it as the New Law Panel, with its term set from September 1, 2024, to August 31, 2027. For the first time, judges currently serving in the Supreme Court and High Courts can be appointed as Chairperson and Members of this New Law Panel. The notification also allows for retired judges and other qualified personnel to fill these vacancies.
The decision to establish the new Commission was formally announced in a gazette notification issued late Monday night, just a day after the term of the 22nd Law Commission concluded on August 31.The notification outlines that the newly established Law Commission will be composed of a full-time Chairperson, four full-time Members including a Member-Secretary and two ex officio Members ,the Secretary of the Department of Legal Affairs and the Secretary of the Legislative Department. Additionally, the panel will include five part-time Members.
BJP’s Longstanding Push for UCC and the Role of the New Law Panel
The Law Ministry’s swift action to establish a new law panel, replacing its predecessor which was examining the feasibility of a Uniform Civil Code (UCC) following extensive consultations and garnering significant public interest, comes just 17 days after the Centre reignited the UCC debate. Prime Minister Narendra Modi highlighted the need for a “secular civil code” in his Independence Day speech, criticizing the current civil code as communal.
Although the new panel’s terms of reference do not explicitly mandate a continuation of the UCC study, they do include provisions that could potentially address the issue and said “Examination of the existing laws in the light of Directive Principles of State Policy and to suggest ways of improvement and reform and also to suggest such legislations as might be necessary to implement the Directive Principles and to attain the objectives set out in the Preamble of the Constitution.”
Article 44 of the Constitution mandates that the state work towards implementing a Uniform Civil Code (UCC) across the country. The 22nd Law Commission, under the leadership of Justice Ritu Raj Awasthi, spent the past 14 months gathering input from political parties, religious and social organizations, and experts.
Despite extensive internal discussions, the Commission was unable to submit even an interim report to the Law Ministry. This delay was largely due to the panel being without a Chairperson for the last five months, following Justice Awasthi’s appointment as a judicial member of the Lokpal. According to regulations, a report cannot be finalized without a Chairperson in place.
The BJP, which included the implementation of a Uniform Civil Code (UCC) in its 2014 manifesto, has consistently pushed for its enactment. In 2016, then Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad directed the Law Commission, led by Justice B.S. Chauhan, to assess the feasibility of a UCC.
Based on the survey and research conducted for nearly two years for which the Commission received approximately 70,000 responses from the citizens, the Commission opined that both in legal as well as in political aspects, India did not need a UCC at the time . Instead, it only suggested changes in the specific personal laws that Hindus, Muslims, and Christians have to protect them from the social evils of gender disparity within religious lines.
The 22nd Law Commission, led by Justice Ritu Raj Awasthi, undertook a new initiative to assess the feasibility of implementing a Uniform Civil Code (UCC). It solicited opinions from political parties, religious and social organizations, foreign experts, and the public, receiving a substantial 80 lakh responses.In an interview with Times Now,Justice Awasthi stated “Our main aim is to end discrimination against women in-built in personal laws of various religions. our recommendations will focus on that.”
The Commission had engaged an agency to analyze the extensive volume of responses it received. Just as it was preparing to conduct seminars and debates on the Uniform Civil Code (UCC), Chairperson Justice Awasthi was appointed as one of the three judicial members of the Lokpal, according to a Rashtrapati Bhawan communique dated February 27, 2024. Justice Awasthi resigned from his position as Chairperson of the Law Commission before taking his oath on March 27, 2024.
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