Seek people's views, consider changes in UCC, HC tells govt

THE COURT LISTED THE MATTER ALONG WITH OTHER PETITIONS RELATED TO THE UCC FOR HEARING ON APRIL 1

- Neeraj Santoshi

DEHRADUN: The Uttarakhand high court on Thursday asked the Solicitor General whether the state government can seek more suggestions on the Uniform Civil Code (UCC) and consider changes wherever required. The court, while hearing a writ petition and a public interest litigation (PIL) challenging the provisions of the UCC, directed the state government to submit a counter affidavit within four weeks and listed the petitions for hearing on April 1, along with other petitions related to UCC.

The division bench of justice Manoj Tiwari and justice Ashish Naithani made these oral remarks while hearing the PILs filed by Dr Uma Bhatt, Kamla Pant, and Munish Kumar and a writ petition filed by Sudhanshu Sanwal.

Vrinda Grover, counsel of the petitioners in both cases, told HT, "The court asked the Solicitor General Tushar Mehta whether people's views were taken before the law was drafted and added that the government may seek more views from people. The Solicitor General said that he was looking into the matter. The court also said that the government should take fresh suggestions and consider changes wherever required."