The proposed Uniform Civil Code (UCC) bill is unlikely to be introduced in the West Bengal Assembly on Monday. Instead, the state government may form a high-level committee to review the matter.
According to Assembly sources, whether the bill will be introduced in the future or not will depend on the recommendations or report of the proposed committee. However, the members of the committee and its modus operandi have not been finalized yet.
The first phase of the state Assembly's budget session is ending on Monday, while the second phase will begin on July 7.
For the past few days, there have been speculations that the state's BJP government may introduce the UCC bill in the Assembly on the last day of the first phase of the session, but state government sources say that the bill has not yet received the approval of the law department, which is headed by West Bengal Chief Minister Shubhendu Adhikari.
Departmental sources have stated that it has not been decided yet whether the government will allow the introduction of the bill in the second phase of the session starting from July 7.
Meanwhile, Nabanna (state secretariat) sources have stated that the Chief Minister may be present in the Assembly on Monday and may also make a statement on the UCC issue. It is expected that his address will clarify the situation regarding the proposed committee.
Speculations about the introduction of the UCC bill gained momentum since Thursday evening. On the same day, during the first phase of the Assembly session, the Chief Minister had supported the bill in his speech and later reiterated his stance at a party program at night, after which the discussion about the introduction of the bill gained more momentum.
The government has not given any official explanation for the decision to delay the bill, but sources say that the administration wants to proceed with caution on this sensitive issue to ensure that there are no loopholes in the proposed law.
According to reports, the state government wants to take the next step only after examining all aspects carefully. Earlier, several BJP-ruled states had also formed committees before implementing the UCC.
So far, the Uniform Civil Code has been implemented in Uttarakhand, Gujarat, and Assam. In these states, special committees were set up to draft the law.
Uttarakhand was the first to introduce the UCC bill in the country. A committee was formed under the chairmanship of former Supreme Court judge Justice Ranjana Desai before introducing the bill there, who later also served on the Gujarat UCC committee. Assam also set up a committee of similar nature.
Recently, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh have also started moving towards implementing the UCC and both states have decided to form committees to draft the law.