Law Commission Refutes News Reports Claiming LCI Chairman Doesn't Consider Uniform Civil Code Possible [Read Press Release]

In a press statement issued on Thursday, the Law Commission of India (LCI) has refuted news reports which quote its Chairman Justice Balbir Singh Chauhan as saying that the "UCC is not possible and not even an option".

Recently, News18 had quoted Mr. Chauhan as saying, "UCC is not possible. We will try to recommend religion-wise amendments in family laws. It would be the piecemeal way to suggest what are the changes required in Hindu law, Muslim law, Christian law, Parsi law, etc. We will target the problems of each religion and deal with them accordingly. We cannot take the whole UCC, as we cannot go outside the constitution."

The release, however, states that the reports "are biased and published with ulterior motives" and asserts:

"It has come to the notice of the Law Commission of India that certain sections of the media across the country are coming out with reports attributed to the Hon'ble Chairman of the Commission that implementation of a Uniform Civil Code in India is constitutionally untenable and that the Code is not even an option.

It is reiterated that the Commission consistently strives for the value enshrined in the Constitution, in discharge of its functions. It is also clarified that the Commission is still in the process of studying the responses received from the stakeholders and is yet to start even internal discussions on the matter."

The LCI took up the examination of the viability of a Uniform Civil Code (UCC) on the Centre's request to look into the issue “in detail and submit a report”

Thereafter, in October, the LCI had sought public opinion on the exercise of revision and reform of family laws, in view of Article 44 of the Constitution of India which envisions a UCC for all Indian citizens.

It had then prepared a questionnaire to solicit public opinion on ways in which family law reforms could be introduced in a manner that “does not compromise the diversity and plurality that constitutes the core of India’s social fabric.”

You may read: Uniform Civil Code or ‘Unilateral Civil Code’ by S. Sanal Kumar

You may also read: Need for a United or Unified Code? Understanding the Implications of the Uniform Civil Code by Varun Srinivasan