Ex-judge quits Maharashtra UCC panel, cites involvement of official from outside the state

Former High Court Justice RC Chavan has resigned from a committee set up by the Maharashtra government to prepare a draft for implementing the Uniform Civil Code, PTI reported on Tuesday.

Chavan resigned on Saturday citing disagreements over the functioning of the panel and the involvement of an official from outside the state.

The government had set up the seven-member panel in July. It is headed by retired Supreme Court Justice Ranjana Desai.

In his resignation letter, Chavan alleged that the meetings of the committee were being concluded without substantive discussions, PTI reported.

He was quoted as having claimed that items on the agenda such as confirmation of minutes, website modifications and finalisation of questionnaires were disposed of quickly on the directions of the chairperson.

He also alleged that suggestions from members on framing a questionnaire to seek the public’s views on matters such as late marriages, infertility, unstable marriages and dispute resolution, had not been considered as an alternative set of questions finalised by the chairperson had already been shared for uploading, PTI reported.

Chavan also said in his resignation letter that an officer from outside the state was involved in the panel. “Maharashtra officers may feel they are not competent to do this duty that an officer from another State had to be...

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