MUMBAI: When Maharashtra chief minister Devendra Fadnavis on Thursday announced a seven-member committee to prepare the framework for a Uniform Civil Code (UCC), the name at its helm stood out: Retired Supreme Court judge Justice Ranjana Prakash Desai.With the latest assignment, Justice Desai has further cemented her position as the country’s go-to legal expert for states looking to frame a Uniform Civil Code. Having earlier led the committee that drafted Uttarakhand’s landmark UCC and subsequently headed similar exercises in other states, she is now tasked with steering Maharashtra’s effort to formulate its own common civil law.Fadnavis said the panel would examine the legal, constitutional, social and administrative aspects of a UCC and submit its recommendations within six months. Based on the report, the government plans to finalise the draft legislation and introduce it during the Nagpur winter session of the state legislature.Justice Desai’s post-retirement career has been marked by a series of high-profile constitutional assignments.Since retiring from the Supreme Court in October 2014, the 76-year-old jurist has chaired or served on several key commissions and tribunals. She headed the Appellate Tribunal for Electricity, chaired the Advance Ruling Authority (Income Tax), led the Lokpal Search Committee, and was appointed chairperson of the Delimitation Commission that redrew assembly constituencies in Jammu and Kashmir following the abrogation of Article 370.In 2022, the Uttarakhand government appointed her to head the expert committee that drafted the state’s Uniform Civil Code, making it the first state after Independence to enact such legislation. She also serves as chairperson of the Press Council of India and heads the Eighth Central Pay Commission, which is tasked with recommending revised pay scales and pension benefits for central government employees.Justice Desai was also part of the Supreme Court bench that upheld the death sentence of 26/11 Mumbai terror attacker Ajmal Kasab. Widely respected in legal circles for her expertise in constitutional and criminal law, she has repeatedly been entrusted with politically and legally significant assignments.The Maharashtra committee headed by Justice Desai includes former Bombay high court judges Justice RC Chavan and Justice SG Mehere, former Maharashtra chief secretary DK Jain, former advocate general Birendra Saraf, Padma Shri awardee and social activist Ramesh Patange, and educationist Suvarna Rawal.As more states explore implementing a Uniform Civil Code, Justice Desai’s role has increasingly become central to shaping how these laws are drafted and vetted before they reach the legislature.
