Congress Legal Experts Advise Party To Take A Cautious Approach Towards Uniform Civil Code

The Congress party's top legal experts convened on Saturday (15 July) to discuss the Uniform Civil Code (UCC).

It is learnt that they will advise the party leadership to take a cautious approach and declare the party's stance only after reviewing the draft bill, should it be introduced in Parliament.

According to a report in The Indian Express, the leaders believe that the party should adopt a "nuanced" perspective on the UCC due to its layered and complex nature.

They said the BJP would like the Congress to take a clear position either in favour or against the UCC, but the party must consider various factors before doing so.

Prominent Congress leaders including P Chidambaram, Salman Khurshid, Abhishek Singhvi, Vivek Tankha, Manish Tewari, and K T S Tulsi were in the meeting that delved into the UCC's legal and social aspects.

The informal panel will compile a report for Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge.

The leaders in the meeting expressed the party's opposition to the concept of uniformity, viewing the UCC as a threat to diversity.

Reform in personal laws can be achieved through the amendment of individual laws, according to their argument. However, the party supports gender parity.

The Congress will support aspects such as equality of inheritance, but they will oppose the imposition of uniformity, said a senior leader, as reported by The Indian Express. The party's stance will depend on the government's intention. They want to determine whether the reform of personal laws is a genuine effort or a means to target certain communities for electoral gains, as per the leader.

One leader explained that they may support certain provisions, but overall, they will oppose any attempt to enforce uniformity.

The Centre has not yet indicated when it will introduce a bill on the UCC.

There is already a division within the opposition camp on the issue. The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and the Shiv Sena (UBT) are in support of the UCC in principle.

The Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) has also stated that it is not opposed to the UCC, but disagrees with the way the BJP is attempting to implement it.