West Bengal constitutes a committee to review the UCC Bill
West Bengal Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari. | Photo credit: ANI
The West Bengal government has constituted a high-level committee headed by former Supreme Court judge Justice Ranjana Prakash Desai to examine the draft Uniform Civil Code (UCC) for the state.
A notification issued by the state government said the committee was formed in view of the “broad implications and voluminous nature of the subject area of the proposed legislation”.
A July 10 notification said the state government had already formulated a bill titled the Uniform Civil Code, West Bengal, 2026, to introduce a comprehensive legal framework for all citizens who are residents of the state, “irrespective of religion, creed or community, relating to critical aspects of personal civil matters such as marriage, divorce, intestate succession and wills”.
The committee will be chaired by Justice Desai (retired). Its members include former Meghalaya Governor and senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Tathagata Roy, Delhi Resident Commissioner Dushyant Nariala, retired IAS officer Shatrughna Singh, Home and Mountain Affairs principal secretary Sanghamitra Ghosh, academician Dr. Gani Mallick and former Sambhag Executive Director Nirmalya Bhattacharyya.
The BJP leadership had promised to implement the UCC in the state during its campaign for the 2026 West Bengal elections. On 29 June, Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari informed the West Bengal Legislative Assembly that the UCC would soon be implemented in the state and referred to the setting up of a committee headed by Justice Desai to examine the UCC Bill. The state cabinet approved the composition of the committee on July 2 and the notification was released on July 10.
Mr. Adhikari said the committee would begin its work and submit its findings soon.
“UCC has already been implemented in other states. It is one nation so there should be only one law. There cannot be two sets of laws in one state,” Mr Adhikari told the media in Baruipur.
Mr Roy said he had no clear idea at this stage of what action would be taken. “The implementation framework will be finalized after discussion in the committee. If it is a Uniform Civil Code, then it should be uniform across the country. I initially believed it would be taken up by the Centre, but later it was decided that it would be handled at the state level. There may be some differences between states, but I don’t believe there will be any major differences,” Mr Roy told sources.
Congress president Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury criticized the move, arguing that the implementation of the UCC could lead to violations of minority rights in the country. “Why is the government not doing this at the central level? Why is it being done in different states? This law should be passed keeping in mind people from all parts of the country,” Mr. Chowdhury said.
Published – 11 Jul 2026 21:45 IST