Maharashtra UCC: Retired IAS officer Shatrughna Singh appointed to panel

CM Fadnavis had earlier said the Maharashtra govt will move towards implementing the UCC after the committee submits its report. File Pic

Retired IAS officer Shatrughna Singh has been appointed as a member of the Maharashtra government's Uniform Civil Code (UCC) committee, days after former Bombay High Court judge Justice R C Chavan resigned from the panel over concerns about the process of seeking public feedback, reported the PTI.

The Maharashtra government has approved Singh's appointment after the name was suggested by committee chairperson and retired Supreme Court judge Justice Ranjana Desai, a senior government official told PTI.

The official said the appointment was not linked to Chavan's resignation.

Singh has worked with Justice Desai earlier

According to the PTI, the official said Justice Desai knows Singh and the two have worked together in the past. She therefore suggested his name for the committee, which was subsequently approved by the state government.

Singh is a retired IAS officer of the Uttarakhand cadre and has been associated with work related to the Uniform Civil Code in Uttarakhand.

The development comes shortly after Justice Chavan resigned from the Maharashtra panel. His resignation was linked to differences over the committee's functioning and the manner in which public feedback was being sought.

Justice Chavan raised concerns over questionnaire

In his resignation letter to Justice Desai, Chavan raised concerns over the proposed public questionnaire. He objected to complex social issues being reduced to simple "Yes/No" responses, arguing that such an approach did not adequately support consensus-building, as per the PTI.

He also said that although finalising the questionnaire was listed as an agenda item for a committee meeting, questions had already been circulated by the chairperson as finalised, the news agency reported.

Reports also said Chavan had raised concerns about the presence of a person who was not a committee member at one of the meetings.

Seven-member committee formed in July

The Maharashtra government announced the formation of the seven-member UCC committee in July, with Justice Ranjana Desai as its chairperson. The panel has been tasked with examining the legal, social, cultural and administrative aspects of implementing the UCC in the state and preparing recommendations.

The committee is also expected to study the experience of other states, including Uttarakhand, which became the first state to implement a UCC, as per the PTI.

The other members include former High Court judge S G Mehare, former Maharashtra chief secretary D K Jain, former advocate general Virendra Saraf, constitutional expert Ramesh Patange and educationist Suvarna Rawal.

Government plans legislation after panel report

Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis has said the Maharashtra government will move towards implementing the UCC after the committee submits its report.

The government has given the panel a six-month period to prepare its recommendations. Fadnavis has also said the government aims to introduce the legislation during the winter session of the Maharashtra legislature in Nagpur.

UCC push ahead of 2029 polls

The latest development comes amid a wider push for the UCC in several states.

Union Home Minister Amit Shah said on September 13 that he was confident that BJP-led NDA governments in 21 states would introduce the UCC before the 2029 Lok Sabha elections.

Uttarakhand remains the first state to fully implement a UCC, while other states have also taken steps towards introducing similar legislation.

(with PTI inputs)