Overview
- Chhattisgarh’s cabinet, which met Wednesday, approved a high-level committee to draft a Uniform Civil Code for the state.
- The UCC would replace religion-based personal laws on marriage, divorce, inheritance, adoption and maintenance with one set of rules to simplify procedures and support gender equality under Article 44.
- Retired Supreme Court judge Ranjana Prakash Desai will chair the panel, and the chief minister will nominate the other members as the committee gathers public and expert input, possibly through a web portal, before sending a draft to the cabinet and Assembly.
- The cabinet also halved property registration fees for assets in a woman’s name, a change officials estimate will forgo about Rs 153 crore in revenue to encourage women’s ownership.
- The step comes as BJP leaders push UCC in West Bengal election rallies, while opponents including Mamata Banerjee and Chhattisgarh Congress warn it could weaken minority and tribal safeguards, with Uttarakhand already implementing a UCC and Gujarat passing a bill last month.