New Delhi: Former Bombay High Court judge Justice R C Chavan has resigned from the Maharashtra government-appointed committee tasked with preparing a framework for implementing the Uniform Civil Code (UCC), raising concerns over the panel’s functioning and its approach to seeking public feedback.
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Justice Chavan, who resigned on September 19, objected in particular to restricting responses to the proposed public questionnaire largely to a “Yes/No” format. He argued that complex social issues could not be adequately addressed through binary responses and questioned whether such an exercise would help build meaningful public consensus.
In his resignation letter to committee chairperson and retired Supreme Court judge Justice Ranjana Desai, Chavan said he had initially understood the panel’s exercise to be aimed at gathering wider public views on issues including late marriages, infertility, marital instability and delays in resolving matrimonial disputes.
He said he later realised that the exercise was instead intended to provide people an opportunity to respond to specific questions in a “yes or no” format, making the resulting data easier to analyse.
Chavan also questioned the manner in which the committee’s meetings were being conducted. He alleged that issues such as confirmation of minutes, modifications to the committee website and finalisation of the questionnaire were being disposed of without substantive deliberation.
According to Chavan, the questionnaire had already been finalised and circulated by the chairperson for uploading once the website became operational, even as finalisation of the questionnaire remained an agenda item for the meeting.
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The former judge also raised questions over the presence and role of a person who was not a member of the committee. The individual reportedly suggested changes to the website, following which officials were directed to make modifications. Chavan questioned why an outside official was required for the exercise.
Explaining his decision to step down, Chavan said he was vacating his position so that the Maharashtra government could fill the vacancy promptly. He nevertheless described his stint on the committee as a learning experience and wished the panel well.
The Maharashtra government constituted the seven-member committee in July under Justice Desai to prepare recommendations and a framework for implementing the UCC in the state. The proposed code seeks uniformity in certain civil and personal-law matters, including marriage, divorce and inheritance.
Justice Chavan’s resignation comes as Maharashtra moves ahead with consultations on the proposed UCC, with the panel expected to submit its recommendations to the state government.
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