Bengal UCC panel set to start public hearings: Consultations to be held in five segments

Kolkata: The commission appointed by the West Bengal government to study the feasibility of implementing the Uniform Civil Code (UCC) in the state will start public hearings on the draft UCC, West Bengal Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari said on Monday. The public hearing will be taken up in five segments, the CM said. After the Commission, led by retired Supreme Court judge Ranjana Prakash Desai, submits it report and UCC is implemented, West Bengal will be the fourth state after Uttarakhand, Gujarat and Assam to adopt UCC replacing the existing religion-based personal laws with a single, unified set of civil laws that apply equally to all citizens, irrespective of religion, caste or tribe. "It is an independent commission. My job is only to take it to the assembly once completed...," Adhikari said. "As I am also the state home minister, I am receiving updates from the home secretary on the commission's work," the CM said. "The commission is functioning very satisfactorily," he added.