22nd Law Commission has very little time for Civil Code

New Delhi: If the Union government seeks the 22nd Law Commission its recommendations on uniform civil code, the commission will have little time to go through the subject, which is so sensitive and requires much attention, PTI reported.

Sources said that Law Commission, which is constituted for three years, was notified by the government on February 24, 2020, but some main posts in the commission, including the chairperson, remains vacant, thus leaving the panel incomplete.

Last December, BJP MP Nishikant Dubey raised the uniform civil code in a Zero hour. Law Minister Kiren Rijiju responded to Dubey in writing in January that Article 44 of the Indian Constitution says that the State shall endeavour to secure the citizens a uniform civil code throughout the territory of India.

Minister said that, given the importance and sensitivity of the matter, it requires in-depth study of the provision of various p[ersonal laws of different communities, a proposal to examine issues concerning uniform civil code and to make recommendations it the matter has been forwarded to 21st Law Commission of India. But the 21st Law Commission's tenure ended on August 21, 2018, and the subject might be taken up by 22nd Law Commission.

The 21st Law Commission was asked by the government in June 2016 to examine matters regarding uniform civil code. Over two years, after many consultations and research, the commission issued a consultation paper in which the panel advised the government on complex legal issues. The uniform civil code was one of the poll-promises by the ruling BJP during the 2014 and 2019 Lok Sabha elections.