KOLKATA — The Bengal Cabinet on Thursday approved the formation of a committee headed by retired Supreme Court judge Ranjana Prakash Desai to examine the draft Uniform Civil Code (UCC) Bill aiming to implement a uniform civil code in the state.
The draft of the Uniform Civil Code, West Bengal, 2026 was also cleared at a meeting of the state cabinet which was chaired by Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari.
“Now the draft Bill will be sent to a newly constituted committee headed by former Supreme Court judge Justice Ranjana Prakash Desai (retired), for examination. Following the recommendations of the high-powered committee that will be received within the next four weeks, the final Bill will be drafted and tabled on the floor of the Assembly in August this year,” said a state cabinet insider.
Announcing the initiative in the Assembly on Monday, Adhikari had said the government would introduce the UCC bill during the extended Budget Session scheduled in August.
Rebel Trinamool Congress MLAs, led by Leader of Opposition Ritabrata Banerjee, opposed the proposal during the Assembly proceedings.
Adhikari, however, said that anyone with objections could submit their views to the committee.
To recall, while addressing the Assembly earlier on June 29, the Chief Minister said that the state’s tribals, indigenous people, Kurmis and other recognised ancient tribal communities will be kept outside the purview of the proposed law.
In this regard, the Chief Minister clarified that the exception is being made following the model adopted by Uttarakhand and Gujarat.
The main purpose of the Bill is to implement a single law across the state, instead of having separate personal laws on the basis of religion. Once implemented, West Bengal will be the fourth Indian state to implement UCC after Gujarat, Uttarakhand and Assam. — With inputs from IANS
