Former SC judge Dinesh Maheshwari appointed law commission chairperson

Law Commission to examine implementation of a UCC across the country

Seven months after the 23rd Law Commission of India was set up, with examining whether a uniform civil code (UCC) can be introduced in the country as one of its terms of reference, the Centre on Tuesday evening announced the appointment of retired Supreme Court judge Dinesh Maheshwari as its chairperson.

 

The Centre had notified the setting up of the 23rd Law Commission on September 3, 2024. The term of the 22nd Law Commission ended on August 31, 2024, with its key report on the UCC still in the works. The 23rd Law Commission was constituted with effect from September 1.

 

 

In 2023, the 22nd Law Commission had initiated fresh consultations on the UCC. After obtaining suggestions from a cross-section of society, the 22nd Law Commission was in the process of preparing a draft report when its chairperson, Justice (retired) Ritu Raj Awasthi, was appointed to the Lokpal. The draft report, according to sources, held 70 public consultations and comprised a 749-page draft.

 

Along with the repeal of Article 370 and the construction of a ‘grand’ Ram temple in Ayodhya — both of which the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led government at the Centre accomplished during its second term (2019–24) — the adoption of a UCC has been the third prong of the BJP’s three-point core agenda since the late 1980s.

 

However, the 21st Law Commission’s report submitted in August 2018 stated that a UCC was “neither necessary nor desirable at this stage”, but the BJP has kept up the pressure on the issue. The BJP-ruled Uttarakhand has implemented a UCC in the state, while Gujarat has set up a committee to frame a draft UCC.

 

In 2022, the Centre said in its affidavit in the Supreme Court on the UCC that citizens of different religions and denominations follow separate property and marital laws, which is “an affront to the nation's unity”. The passage of the Waqf (Amendment) Act, with the support of its allies, such as the Telugu Desam Party and the Janata Dal (United), during the recently concluded Budget session of Parliament, has been a shot in the arm for the BJP. On the question of a UCC, the JD(U) has maintained the need to build consensus through substantive consultations with all religions.

 

In a post on X on Tuesday evening, the Union Ministry of Law and Justice said that “Prime Minister Narendra Modi has approved the appointment of Justice Dinesh Maheshwari, Hitesh Jain, and D P Verma to the 23rd Law Commission of India, as proposed by the Department of Legal Affairs. They assumed charge today.”

 

Jain, a lawyer, and Verma, an academician who teaches at the law faculty of Banaras Hindu University, have been appointed as full-time members. Their tenures will last until August 31, 2027, the Ministry said. Verma was part of the previous 22nd Law Commission too. Justice Maheshwari retired from the Supreme Court on May 14, 2023, and served as a judge of the Rajasthan High Court from 2004 to 2014. He was transferred to Allahabad High Court in July 2014, became chief justice of the Meghalaya High Court in February 2016, and later chief justice of Karnataka High Court in February 2018. He took oath as a judge of the Supreme Court in January 2019.

 

Though the notifications relating to the constitution of the 21st and 22nd Law Commissions — issued in September 2015 and February 2020 respectively — had provisions for appointing serving Supreme Court and high court judges as chairpersons and members, in the recent past, either retired top court judges or former chief justices of high courts have headed the body.

 

According to the order issued in September 2024, the 23rd Law Commission will have a full-time chairperson and four full-time members, including a member-secretary. The secretary of the Department of Legal Affairs and the secretary of the Legislative Department will be its ex-officio members. There cannot be more than five part-time members, according to the order.

 

It said the chairperson/members "who are serving judges of the Supreme Court/high court shall perform their functions on a whole-time basis up to the date of retirement from the Supreme Court/high court or expiry of the term of the Commission, whichever be earlier". The time spent by them in the performance of such functions as chairperson or member of the Commission will be treated as "actual service".

 

The order noted that in case "other category" persons are appointed as chairperson or full-time members, the chairperson will be entitled to a pay of Rs 2.5 lakh (fixed) per month. In the case of members, a pay of Rs 2.25 lakh (fixed) per month will be admissible.

 

In the case of a retired person (including retired judges), the pay (including pension or pension equivalent to retirement benefits) not exceeding Rs 2.5 lakh or Rs 2.25 lakh per month, as the case may be, will be admissible.