New Delhi: Newly appointed Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad has said that his government is in no hurry to bring the civil code and that a comprehensive consultation will be done with all stakeholders before making it into a law.
“You see, it is a part of the Constitutional scheme. There have been observations and even directions of the Supreme Court and various high courts from time to time,” Prasad, who was made the Law Minister again in recent Cabinet reshuffle, told The Indian Express.
The Uniform Civil Code is a key element of the BJP’s 2014 manifesto which states that there cannot be equality for women till such time that a common civil code is adopted to protect the rights of India's women.
The code, once implemented, would mean a set of common civil laws for all citizens in place of multitude of personal laws for different religious groups. Currently, there are personal laws based on the scriptures and customs of each major religious community. They are separate from the public law and are applied on issues like marriage, divorce, inheritance, adoption and maintenance.
“Yes, it was part of our manifesto. But, I am very clearly of the view that any debate on this issue must involve the widest possible consultations. India is a huge country with a lot of diversity, lot of local laws, lot of communities. Therefore, there must be widest possible consultations. Let the Law Commission start the process. But, I would like the government to remain insulated from this. This consultation process must be held in a fair and transparent manner and let the Law Commission take a final view on it. Then the government will come in the picture,” he said.
Recently the Law Ministry had asked the Law Commission to submit a report in this regard.
The Minister also sent out a clear message that the government has no intention of getting into confrontations with the judiciary.
“Nobody should harbour the misconception that we are in a tussle with the judiciary. For the government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, independence of judiciary and respect for it is an article of faith… We are not in an adversarial relationship with the judiciary,” Prasad said.
Prasad’s remark came in the wake of reports claiming that government-judiciary relationship has been in ‘tatters as never before’.
