Justice RC Chavan resigns from Maharashtra Uniform Civil Code panel; flags concerns over its functioning

Former Bombay High Court Justice RC Chavan has resigned from Maharashtra’s Uniform Civil Code (UCC) drafting committee, raising serious concerns over the panel's functioning, the rushed finalization of a public feedback questionnaire, and the active participation of an un-appointed non-member.

The seven-member committee, chaired by retired Supreme Court judge Justice Ranjana Desai, recently held its second meeting online. In a candid resignation email addressed to the Chairperson, members, and the Principal Secretary (Law and Judiciary), Justice Chavan revealed that crucial decision-making processes were being bypassed.

Justice Chavan noted that during the meeting, three members attempted to articulate their views including a suggestion to have the questionnaire professionally evaluated by academic experts.

However, those inputs were rendered moot as the chairperson had already finalised the document.

"The Honourable chairperson had already circulated a questionnaire finalized by her and stated that it would be uploaded once the website was ready," Justice Chavan wrote.

The former judge expressed deep disappointment with the committee's reduced scope for gathering public input.

"My attempt to put forth my views... was due to my misunderstanding that our exercise was aimed at gathering views of people of Maharashtra and to generate a consensus to remedy the issues of late marriages, perversions, infertility, unstable marriages, time consuming dispute resolution mechanism etc.,” the judge said. 

He realised that the aim now remained to gather the ‘yes or no’ responses so that analysis of data becomes easy. 

Justice Chavan also questioned the involvement and directives of an outsider, former IAS officer Shatrughna Singh, regarding the committee's website modifications.

He speculated whether this reliance on an external figure stemmed from an apprehension among state officials regarding their own competence.

"To solve this problem, I am vacating my seat on the committee by resigning now, so that the Government can fill in the blank promptly. A resolution notified quickly will help me tell those who meet me with the expectation that I will place their views before the committee that they must do it themselves. This will also relieve me from the injunction to avoid interactions. Now as a free citizen, I will be free to air my views," the judge said.

The Maharashtra government has accepted his resignation.