Government asks Law Commission to examine uniform civil code issue

New Delhi: Government has asked the Law Commission to examine the issue of Uniform Civil Code, an issue that is dear to BJP and the sangh parivar. The  Department of Legal Affairs has asked the Commission, a recommendatory body, to submit a report on the issue. The move  assumes significance as the Supreme Court had recently said it would prefer a wider debate, in public as well as in court, before taking a decision on the constitutional validity of 'triple talaq', which many complain is abused by Muslim men to arbitrarily divorce their wives. Law Minister D V Sadananda Gowda had earlier said that the issue could be referred to the Law Commission for examination. Gowda had said "wider consultations" will be held with various personal law boards and other stakeholders to evolve a consensus and the process may take some time. "...Even the Preamble of our Constitution and Article 44 of the Constitution do say that there should be a Uniform Civil Code...it needs to have a wider consultation," he had said. A decision "cannot be done in a day or two. It will take its own time", Gowda had said. Implementation of a common civil code is part of the BJP's election manifesto. But the NDA, when it came to power in 1998 and 1999 and now under Narendra Modi, had kept contentious issues, including the UCC, on the backburner.