Opposition parties see poll agenda in govt UCC move

New Delhi: Responding to the Law Commission of India’s contentious questionnaire for a Uniform Civil Code, most Opposition parties have dubbed the move to refer the matter to it as part of the BJP government’s “political agenda,” with some of them even questioning the timing of it ahead of Uttar Pradesh polls.

The Congress, BSP and TMC are learnt to have refrained from saying as to whether they support a common civil code or not. However, they dubbed the decision of the government to refer the matter to the law panel as trying to further its political interests, sources said.

Responding to the law panel’s request to answer the questionnaire, BSP said the party is attaching a press statement issued by Mayawati on October 25 in Lucknow.

Asaduddin Owaisi’s All India Majlis-E-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) is learnt to have opposed a common code and has supported its stand through certain court orders.

The NCP is learnt to have opposed the practice of “instant triple talaq” but has, by and large, supported separate personal laws.

Highly-placed sources in the panel said the questionnaire has so far received over 40,000 responses. While the deadline to send the responses ended on December 21, the law panel said it would continue to entertain responses.

“Uniform Civil Code is one of the important projects before the Law Commission. The responses/replies received by the Commission are being processed. The response/replies received, if any, after the date may also be considered,” it said in a brief statement.

Amid a raging debate on Uniform Civil Code, the Law Commission had, on October 7, sought the public’s response to 16 questions related to the practice of triple talaq, whether Uniform Civil Code should be optional, and whether family laws need to be reformed.

In an accompanying questionnaire, the Commission had asked whether the existing personal laws and customary practices need codification.

The Commission had said its objective was to address discrimination against vulnerable groups and harmonise the various cultural practices even as it assured people that “norms of no one class, group or community will dominate the tone and tenor of family law reforms”.

The All Indian Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB) had slammed the questionnaire and dismissed the commission’s assurance that it was not against plurality of laws, and that its aim was to address social injustice.