Ex-IAS officer Shatrughna Singh inducted in Maharashtra UCC panel after judge quits

Justice Chavan was part of Maharashtra’s seven-member committee headed by retired Supreme Court judge Ranjana Desai, to draft a Uniform Civil Code

The Maharashtra government has inducted retired civil servant Shatrughna Singh into the state’s Uniform Civil Code (UCC) committee, days after his presence at a committee meeting provoked retired high court judge RC Chavan to resign from the panel

Shantrughna Singh headed the Uttarakhand UCC Rules Making and Implementation Committee, the first state to enact and implement the law (File Photo)

Justice Chavan was part of Maharashtra’s seven-member committee headed by retired Supreme Court judge Ranjana Desai, to draft a Uniform Civil Code (UCC). In his resignation letter, he specifically mentioned Singh’s presence at the panel’s September 19 meeting, the committee’s second meeting in September.

There were also differences at the meeting over the nature of the questionnaire; justice Chavan wanted the questionnaire to be subjective while others wanted a mix of subjective and objective questions.

Maharashtra constituted the panel, led by retired Supreme Court judge Ranjana Desai, in July this year to prepare draft legislation to implement the UCC, or a common set of laws for personal matters such as marriage, divorce, inheritance, and succession for all. Chief minister Devendra Fadnavis had given the committee six months to come up with a draft law.

A senior government official said Singh, a retired Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer from the 1983 batch, was appointed at the chairperson’s request. Justice Ranjana Samant Desai wanted the former Uttarakhand chief secretary to be part of the committee, but the order had not been issued earlier, the official said.

Singh headed the Uttarakhand UCC Rules Making and Implementation Committee, which framed the administrative and digital framework for enforcing the law. He is also a member of the committee formed by West Bengal to implement UCC.

Uttarakhand was the first state in the country to pass a UCC law in February 2024.

The other three BJP-ruled states that have passed the UCC legislation are Gujarat, Assam and Madhya Pradesh. Apart from Maharashtra, West Bengal and Chhattisgarh have constituted committees to draft the legislation.

UCC refers to a common set of laws that will subsume customary laws across faiths and govern issues such as marriage, divorce, inheritance and maintenance. Part of the BJP’s troika of core ideological goals, UCC was among the party’s poll promises in the 2024 general elections.

Earlier this month, Union home minister Amit Shah declared that the governments in 21 states ruled by the BJP-led NDA will introduce UCC before the next parliamentary elections in 2029.