West Bengal govt to introduce UCC Bill in Assembly in August; panel led by former SC judge constituted

Kolkata (West Bengal) [India], June 29 (ANI): West Bengal Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari on Monday announced in the Assembly that the draft of the Uniform Civil Code (UCC) will be placed before the state cabinet on July 2, following which the proposed legislation will be introduced in the state Assembly during its August session.
Addressing the House, the Chief Minister said the state government has initiated the process for enacting the Uniform Civil Code and is committed to taking the legislation forward after completing the necessary procedural steps.
"The draft of the Uniform Civil Code (UCC) will be placed before the state cabinet on July 2. After the cabinet's approval, the bill will be tabled in the Assembly in August," Adhikari said in the House.
The Chief Minister also announced the constitution of a committee headed by former Supreme Court judge Justice (Retd.) Ranjana Prakash Desai, which will draft the UCC Bill for Bengal.
According to the Chief Minister, the committee comprises experts from different fields, including legal luminaries and educationists, who will examine various aspects of the proposed law before submitting their recommendations.
He further informed the Assembly that the panel has been given one month to submit its report to the government.
"The committee has been given one month to submit its report. Once the committee's report is received, the bill will be tabled in the Assembly in August," he said.
Reiterating the government's commitment to implementing the proposed legislation, the Chief Minister asserted that the state administration would move ahead with the Uniform Civil Code after completing the legislative process.
"The government is committed to introducing the UCC bill, and the Uniform Civil Code will be implemented in Bengal under any circumstances," Adhikari said.
This comes after the West Bengal assembly on Monday passed the West Bengal Public Safety and Control of Anti-Social Activities Bill, 2026, with 176 members voting in its favour and 41 against it.
The newly passed Bill aims to provide the state administration with enhanced powers to curb anti-social activities and neutralise criminal conspiracies, which the government argues were necessary as previous laws had become "ineffective."
In the objects and reasons of the West Bengal Public Safety and Control of Anti-Social Activities Bill, 2026, the government stated that it felt the need for a new legal framework after observing that existing provisions were insufficient to deal with organised anti-social elements.
The government said that it has been observed that certain sections of society are engaging in anti-social activities, posing a serious threat to the lives and property of the bonafide citizens of the state. The extant provisions of the prevailing Acts and rules were found to be ineffective and inadequate to combat these types of nefarious activities, it added.
The primary objective of the new legislation is to provide the state with more teeth to curb criminal activities and disrupt the planning of such crimes.
With an objective to curb these activities, to severely punish the anti-social elements, and to prevent their conspirational designs, it is considered necessary to bring in some provisions in the form of a new Bill, the government said. (ANI)