Activists, NGOs write to law panel; seek alignment of UCC with laws protecting persons with disabilities

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, July 29

A Day after the end of the extended deadline for submitting comments and suggestions on the Uniform Civil Code (UCC), disability rights groups on Saturday urged it to align the Uniform Civil Code (UCC) with existing laws protecting the rights of persons with disabilities (PwDs).

In a letter written to the law panel, they stressed the importance of aligning the UCC with existing laws protecting the rights of PwDs such as the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act, 2016, and the Mental Healthcare Act, 2017, saying a nuanced approach was needed to address the specific vulnerabilities faced by them and protect their rights.

The Law Commission—which advises the Government on legal issues—has started the process of scrutinising the responses received from various stakeholders to prepare a report on the contentious issue, sources said, adding more than 50 lakh responses —mostly online—had been till July 13. The panel was expected to call certain organisations and individuals for a personal hearing.

Noting that the UCC, it is believed, will seek to establish uniformity in personal laws, encompassing marriage, maintenance, adoption, guardianship, inheritance, property rights, and community properties, they said that “any discussion on these issues needs to take their voices, concerns, needs and vulnerabilities into account.”

The UCC, if implemented without careful consideration, could have significant implications for individuals with disabilities, they said, advocating comprehensive consultations with PwDs and their representative organisations.

Responding to the Law Commission’s call for suggestions on UCC, about 220 disability rights groups and activists highlighted their concerns from their perspective and emphasised the need to safeguard the rights of persons with disabilities (PwDs) and ensure their voices were heard in the formulation of the issue.

The lived experiences and challenges of PwDs must be thoroughly understood and addressed during the drafting process, they submitted.

Signatories to the submission to the Law Commission included National Platform for the Rights of the Disabled General Secretary Muralidharan, cross-disability professional Seema Baquer, gender and disability activist Sadhna Arya, Multiple Sclerosis Society of India—Chennai Chapter, Action For Autism, and Shishu Sarothi Centre for Rehabilitation & Training for Multiple Disability.

While AAP and BJD have extended qualified support to the UCC which has been on the agenda of the BJP, most of the Opposition parties, including Congress, SAD, DMK and AIADMK, have opposed it. Many Muslim organisations, including All India Muslim Personal Law and All India Muslim Majlis-E-Mushawarat – an umbrella body of Indian Muslim organisations, have opposed the UCC.

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