Owing to his pre-poll promise, Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami is set to implement the Uniform Civil Code (UCC) within the next two months. With this Uttarakhand will become the first state to implement UCC since the time of independence.

In retrospect, with the implementation of UCC, citizens irrespective of the religion that they follow, have to live in accordance with the same laws when it comes to marriage, divorce and/or succession. However, the draft and its guidelines are yet to be finalized in the case of Uttarakhand.

Contrary to the beliefs of the government, the opposition have been strictly against the implementation of the law as Congress state spokesperson Garima Dasoni said, “that if the intention of the government is so clear, then they should first explain the definition of the code” and on similar lines, AAP state spokesperson Kamlesh Rama said, “that this saffron law will only create a wall of hatred among the peace-loving people here.”

Legal experts including advocate general Surya Narayan Babulkar believe that several Supreme Court judgments including the famous Shah Bano case have recognized the need for UCC and that legally the state government has every right to make and implement the law.

Babhulkar expressed the need for a UCC in the state by explaining that there should be a single law for all citizens across the country or in the state with regard to public and personal matters like marriage, divorce, transfer of property, succession, adoption, population control, public order and eligibility to avail benefits of government schemes.

The state machinery had earlier constituted a committee of five experts including retired SC judge Ranjana Desai, retired HC judge Pramod Kohli, retired IAS Shatrughan Singh, social activist Manu Gaur and VC of Doon University Surekha Dangwal to form the draft and the same will soon be brought to the public after taking due suggestion from other people of repute.

Prior to Uttarakhand, only the state of Goa has had some form of UCC in the name of the Goa Civil Code which has been in force since Portuguese times. Every Goan irrespective of their religion is bound by the same law with regard to marriage, divorce and other similar disputable domains.