Mumbai: Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Thursday announced the formation of a seven-member expert committee to prepare a framework for implementing the Uniform Civil Code (UCC) in the State. The panel will be headed by retired Supreme Court Judge Ranjana Prakash Desai.

The committee includes former Bombay High Court judges Justice R C Chavan and Justice S G Mehare, former Maharashtra Chief Secretary D K Jain, former Advocate General Birendra Saraf, social activist and Padma Shri awardee Ramesh Patange, and educationist Dr Suvarna Rawal. It has been tasked with examining the legal, administrative and social aspects of a UCC before submitting its recommendations to the State Government.

The UCC seeks to introduce a common set of personal laws for citizens, irrespective of religion, in matters including marriage, divorce, inheritance and adoption. The issue has long been at the centre of political and legal debate in India.

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Article 44 of the Constitution, which forms part of the Directive Principles of State Policy, says the State should endeavour to secure a Uniform Civil Code for citizens across the country.

The Maharashtra Government’s announcement comes days after it said a committee would be formed to draft legislation on the UCC. According to reports, the proposed draft law could be presented during the Winter Session of the State Legislature.

Ranjana Desai’s previous role in UCC drafting

Justice Ranjana Prakash Desai also headed the expert committee that prepared the UCC framework for Uttarakhand, which became the first state in independent India to implement such a code. The Uttarakhand law covers areas including marriage, divorce, inheritance and live-in relationships, while exempting Scheduled Tribes and certain protected communities.

Fadnavis said the panel will submit its report within six months. “Based on its recommendations, the government is planning to introduce a bill on the UCC during the Winter Session of the State Legislature,” he told the State Assembly on Wednesday.

Maharashtra is the latest in a series of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-ruled states to constitute panels under Justice (retd) Desai for the implementation of UCC.

Last month, Rajasthan initiated the process for UCC, becoming the fifth BJP-ruled state to do so over the last two years. In February 2024, Uttarakhand became the first state to pass a UCC law. Two more BJP-ruled states, Gujarat and Assam, followed suit this year.

BJP-ruled Madhya Pradesh has also set up a committee to draft the UCC and plans to table a bill this month. Tribals have been excluded from the purview of common frameworks governing personal matters under the UCC in all these states.

The Constitution’s Article 44, one of the directive principles of state policy, advocates for a UCC, a contentious and polarising issue. But respective religion-based civil codes have governed personal matters since independence.

A pan-India UCC is the BJP’s third unfulfilled ideological promise. The construction of the Ram Temple in Ayodhya and the revocation of Jammu and Kashmir’s semi-autonomous status under the Constitution’s Article 370, the other two major ideological goals, have been achieved since the BJP came to power at the Centre in 2014.