The Congress on Thursday slammed the BJP government’s pre-poll push to uniform civil code (UCC) and questioned the rationale of the 22nd Law Commission of India seeking time-bound public inputs for a UCC, reminding it that just five years ago the 21st Law Commission of India’s consultation paper had opined that UCC was “neither necessary nor desirable at this stage”.

Terming the push to the UCC a reflection of the “desperation of the Modi government”, the All India Congress Committee in-charge of communication Jairam Ramesh said in a statement: “It is strange that the law commission is seeking a fresh reference when in its press release it acknowledges that its predecessor, the 21st Law Commission had published a consultation paper on the subject in August 2018. No reasons are given for why the subject is being revisited except for vague references to ‘the relevance and the importance of the subject and also the various court orders’.”

“The real reason is that the 21st Law Commission, after carrying out a detailed and comprehensive review of the subject, observed that it is ‘neither necessary nor desirable at this stage’ to have a uniform civil code. This latest attempt represents the Modi government’s desperation for a legitimate justification of its continuing agenda of polarisation and diversion from its glaring failures,” he said.

Ramesh quoted a para from 21st Law Commission’s 182-page ‘Consultation Paper on Reform of Family Law’ submitted on August 31, 2018, which purportedly said: “While diversity of Indian culture can and should be celebrated, specific groups or weaker sections of society must not be dis-privileged in the process. Resolution of this conflict does not mean abolition of all differences. This commission has therefore dealt with laws that are discriminatory rather than providing a uniform civil code which is neither necessary nor desirable at this stage. Most countries are now moving towards recognition of difference and the mere existence of difference does not imply discrimination, but is indicative of a robust democracy.”