The Law Commission of India has received an overwhelming response to its notice inviting suggestions of the public at large and recognised religious institutions pertaining to the Uniform Civil Code (UCC), with over 75 lakh responses coming in. The deadline for submission of views on UCC to the panel ends Friday.
According to sources, the Commission has received over 75 lakh responses, while around three lakh suggestions have been received by the President and another two lakh by the Prime Minister.
The law panel may hold consultations on the subject before it embarks on the process to draft its report, sources said.
The Commission had on June 14 issued a notice soliciting views and ideas of the public at large and recognised religious institutions about UCC. A period of 30 days was given for responses to be sent to the panel. However, in view of the overwhelming response from the public and numerous requests received from various quarters regarding the extension of time for submitting their comments, the Commission had extended the deadline by two weeks.
“The Law Commission values the input of all stakeholders and aims to create an inclusive environment that encourages active engagement. We encourage all interested parties to utilise this extended timeframe to contribute their valuable ideas and expertise,” the Commission had said in its notice extending the deadline for submission of suggestions on UCC.
The Commission's decision to invite suggestions on UCC had revived the debate on the politically contentious issue and set off speculation on whether it was a precursor to the union government bringing in UCC.
In response to a question in the Rajya Sabha, Law Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal said in a written reply that the 21st Law Commission had not submitted a report on UCC, but it had come out with a consultation paper on the subject on August 31, 2018.
“Since more than four years have lapsed from the date of issuance of the said consultation paper, the 22nd Law Commission (the current panel) decided to solicit views and ideas of the public at large and religious organisations on June 14, 2023, bearing in mind the relevance and importance of the subject matter and also various court orders on the subject of uniform civil code,” Meghwal said.
Responding to another query, which was about the modalities of UCC, the Minister said that since the law panel was still in the process of holding consultations on the subject, the question of modalities does not arise at this stage.