State to enact UCC, panel to prepare draft bill: Minister

Minister of state for home Yogesh Kadam on Tuesday told the state legislative assembly that a committee headed by a retired high court judge will table a draft bill to enact the Uniform Civil Code

MUMBAI: The Maharashtra government will enact a Uniform Civil Code (UCC) on the lines of similar laws in three other states, and will constitute a committee headed by a retired high court judge to establish its legal framework. Such a law would replace the personal laws of various religions with a unified set of secular laws governing matters such as marriage, divorce, inheritance and maintenance, issues relating to triple talaq, among other things.

State to enact UCC, panel to prepare draft bill: Minister

Minister of state for home Yogesh Kadam on Tuesday told the state legislative assembly that the committee, whose constitution has been cleared by the chief minister, will table a draft bill to enact the UCC. “The committee will deliberate on the draft of the bill. We are determined to enact the law,” said Kadam.

The minister said that after the central government enacted the Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Marriage) Act 2018, popularly known as the ‘Triple Talaq Act’, instances of instant talaq pronounced over the phone or via email have declined. He said other issues, such as divorce, could be addressed through the UCC once enacted.

He said cases relating to triple talaq are being dealt with strictly. As many as 42 cases were registered in 2024, and action was taken against 152 persons. In 2025, 39 such cases were registered and 95 of the 137 accused were arrested, he said.

“In one such case, the accused attacked his wife merely because she lodged a complaint against him. There are many such cases, where women and children face atrocities. The state needs to take strict action in such cases,” she said.

The other states that enacted a Uniform Civil Code recently are Uttarakhand, Assam and Gujarat, while Goa has a civil code rooted in the colonial era.

Farande said Maharashtra too needed a law to deal effectively with polygamy. “Remarriage is not allowed in Pakistan without the permission of the first wife and the approval of the arbitration council,” Farande pointed out.

Opposition members objected to the discussion on triple talaq, alleging it was intended to target a specific community. Jayant Patil of the (NCP-SP) and Vijay Wadettiwar (Congress) argued that the calling attention motion did not meet the prescribed norms and should not have been included in the day’s business.

Sana Malik (NCP) questioned whether polygamy existed only within the Muslim community. She also said the Triple Talaq Act, passed in 2018, had criminalised only Talaq-e-Biddat, one of three forms of talaq, claiming the practice was not prevalent in India.