Overview
- Justice R. C. Chavan submitted his resignation on September 19 and the Maharashtra government accepted it this week, creating a vacancy on the seven‑member committee chaired by retired Supreme Court judge Ranjana Desai.
- Chavan said he quit because meetings were being wrapped up without substantive debate and because the chair had circulated a pre‑finalised questionnaire that would collect public responses in a yes/no format.
- He flagged that a non‑member official from another state attended and advised on the committee's website and process, which he said raised questions about outside participation and state officials' roles.
- Chavan set out a vision for a UCC focused on family preservation, gender equality, gender‑neutral language, areligious private law and voluntary registration of relationships, showing there were substantive as well as procedural disagreements inside the panel.
- The resignation intensifies scrutiny of how the committee will conduct consultations and maintain credibility as the Maharashtra government signals it plans to move toward UCC legislation after the panel files its report.