Retired high court judge RC Chavan resigns from Maharashtra UCC rules committee

Chavan cited differences over the process of seeking public feedback and alleged the presence of a non-member at committee meetings.

Retired high court judge RC Chavan has resigned from the state-appointed committee to draft rules for implementation of a uniform civil code (UCC) in Maharashtra, owing to differences regarding the process of seeking public feedback and the alleged presence of a non-member at meetings of the committee.

Justice Chavan was part of the seven-member committee, headed by retired Supreme Court judge Ranjana Desai.

Speaking to Hindustan Times, Chavan said, “I have been working on the UCC since the last 10 years. I spoke about this three years ago in Pune. UCC must happen, but there should be no fights between communities. Society must not be broken in narrow fragments.”

The committee to draft rules and recommendations for implementing UCC in Maharashtra was constituted in July. Justice Chavan was part of the seven-member committee, headed by retired Supreme Court judge Ranjana Desai.

In the letter sent to the committee chairperson and others on September 19, Chavan said that he tried to put forth his views at meetings due to a misunderstanding that the committee’s exercise was aimed at gathering the views of people and generating a consensus to remedy the issues of late marriages, perversions, infertility, unstable marriages, time consuming dispute resolution mechanisms and so on.

Chavan also alleged that a non-member of the panel, Shatrughna Singh, was present at meetings of the committee. He said he was vacating his seat on the committee, so that the government can fill in the blank promptly. “A resolution notified quickly will help me tell those who meet me with the expectation that I will place their views before the committee that they must do it themselves,” he said in his resignation letter.