Delhi High Court To Hear Plea On Uniform Civil Code

New Delhi: The Delhi High Court will on Monday hear a plea seeking formulation of a Uniform Civil Code (UCC). The court had issued a notice to the Home Ministry and Law Commission on May 31 but neither has filed a response as of now. A Division Bench of the Chief Justice Rajendra Menon and Justice Brijesh Sethi had listed the matter for hearing on July 8. Public interest litigation (PIL) was filed by Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader and advocate Ashwini Kumar Upadhyay.

In his plea, Upadhyay sought direction to the government to set up a judicial commission or a high-level expert committee to draft within three months the UCC in the spirit of Article 44 of the Constitution, while considering the best practices of all religions and sects, civil laws of developed countries and international conventions. He also sought direction to publish the draft on a government website for at least 60 days to allow for extensive public debate and feedback.

The PIL sought direction to the Law Commission to draft the UCC and direction to the government to secure gender justice, gender equality, and dignity of women. In his plea, Upadhyay said: “The objective of Article 44 is to introduce a common civil code, which is essential to promote fraternity, unity and national integration.’’ (IANS)

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