New Delhi: Sedition law is the need of the hour, Law Commission Chairman Justice Rituraj Awasthi said Tuesday, adding it was much needed “considering the current condition of the country”.
Justice Awasthi told news agency ANI that the commission had examined the usage of the law, saying: “From Kashmir to Kerala and from Punjab to Northeast, if you see the situation, you’ll see it’s required for the integrity of the country.”
On 2 June, the 22nd Law Commission of India recommended that the law of sedition be retained with certain changes — a development that came a year after the Supreme Court put on hold all pending proceedings in such cases until the central government completed its re-examination of the provision.
On the implementation of the Uniform Civil Code (UCC) — Prime Minister Narendra Modi made a strong pitch for it in Bhopal on Monday — Justice Awasthi told ANI that the law commission had got a “huge response” over it after the communication of its notice.
Justice Awasthi added: “Till yesterday, we have received 8.5 lakh responses. UCC is not a new issue… the reference was received in 2016, one consultation paper was released in 2018. From 2018 to November 2022, the Law Commission was not functional. In November 2022, appointments were made and this matter was taken up and we have been working on it.”
He added efforts were being made to have “wide consultations” with all stakeholders and organisations on the UCC.
In poll-bound Madhya Pradesh Monday, Modi had made a strong push for the UCC, saying “there could not be a different set of rules for different members of a family”.
Addressing the party’s booth-level workers in Bhopal, Modi said some people were instigating others in the name of the Uniform Civil Code, adding the Constitution also talked about equal rights for its citizens.
The Prime Minister’s views were concurrent with affidavits filed by the Law Ministry last year that said it was “an affront to the nation’s unity” that citizens belonging to different religions and denominations follow different property and matrimonial laws.
Hours after his speech, the All India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB) decided late Tuesday that it would oppose “tooth and nail” any move to implement the UCC in the country.
The board also drafted an affidavit over its opposing views which they will present to the Law Commission.
Meanwhile, Opposition Congress has attacked Modi’s pitch with senior leader P. Chidambaram saying it could not be forced on people by an “agenda-driven majoritarian government” as it would “widen divisions” among people.
The former Union minister claimed the Prime Minister was batting for UCC to divert people’s attention from issues of unemployment, price rise and hate crimes. He also alleged the BJP was using UCC to polarise society.
Also read: ‘Will fight tooth and nail,’ says Muslim board after Modi’s UCC pitch in poll-bound MP