Northeast and Tribals Should Be Exempt From UCC, According to Sushil Modi, Head of Parliamentary Panel

Sushil Kumar Modi, a member of parliament for the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the head of the parliamentary committee on law and justice, stated that the Uniform Civil Code, which has drawn criticism from Opposition leaders and some BJP politicians, should not be applied to the tribal population in the Northeast and other regions of the nation. In a panel discussion on UCC on Monday, Modi said that the Schedule’s tribal territories and Northeast India, which is covered by the requirements of Article 371, should be excluded from the law. The implementation of the UCC has faced resistance from a number of opposition figures as well as certain BJP leaders.

This comes a week after Conrad Sangma, the chief minister of Meghalaya, voiced his opinion over the implementation of the UCC, stating that his state’s customs and rituals could not be disregarded in favour of imposing a new law on everyone.

The members of the Law Ministry and the Indian Law Commission were requested to participate in this House panel. The parties would be permitted to give their official comment on the matter when the central government provides a draught of the plan, according to the other panel members on UCC.

Congress members have reportedly questioned whether the adoption of UCC would ultimately violate the nation’s commitment to religious freedom. According to senior attorney and Congressman Vivek Tankha, marriage falls within the purview of personal laws, which may be subject to modification if UCC is put into effect. Tankha cited the government’s argument that marriage is inextricably linked to one’s religion at the Supreme Court hearing on same-sex marriage as evidence that the implementation of marriage laws by UCC would have an impact on citizens’ religious emotions.

Tankha and DMK MP P Wilson questioned the Law Commission member-secretary K Biswal in two different written remarks why they were soliciting public opinions on this issue while the previous Law Commission apparently labelled UCC as “neither necessary nor desirable” in 2018.

Mahesh Jethmalani of the BJP said that it was always deemed necessary throughout the discussions in the Constituent Assembly.

Others, on the other hand, allegedly said that adhering to the rules established by UCC should be a choice, noting that BR Ambedkar shared their viewpoint.

According to the sources, the law ministry representatives led the consultation process and presented the subject using PowerPoint. The government got 19 lakh comments after issuing a public notice on June 13 inviting recommendations, and the procedure would continue through July 13 according to information provided to the media.

Trinamool Congress and Nationalist Congress Party members were absent from the House panel, which also included representatives from several opposition parties. The panel discussion was attended by 17 of the 31 members.