Archive · 13 Aug 2026
Rajasthan UCC Bill draft clears legal review; reaches Law Minister
The state of Rajasthan in India wants to make a new set of laws called the Uniform Civil Code, or UCC.
These laws would be the same for everyone, no matter which religion they follow.
Right now, different religious groups have their own rules for things like marriage and divorce.
The UCC would give everyone one common set of rules for personal matters.
A big draft of this law, about 200 pages long, has now been checked by lawyers.
The committee that wrote it was led by a famous former judge named Ranjana Prakash Desai.
Now the Law Minister has to approve it before the state Cabinet can discuss it.
The Cabinet will likely talk about the draft on Thursday.
The new law would not stop religious customs, but it would create common rules for matters like marriage, divorce, inheritance, adoption, and property.
The roughly 200-page draft of Rajasthan's Uniform Civil Code Bill completed legal scrutiny and was sent to Law Minister Jogaram Patel for approval.
The draft was prepared by a committee headed by former Supreme Court Justice Ranjana Prakash Desai and submitted to Chief Minister Bhajanlal Sharma last week.
After ministerial approval, the draft is expected to be placed before the state Cabinet on Thursday.
The draft drew on UCC laws in Uttarakhand and Gujarat, while tribal communities were kept outside its ambit due to constitutional considerations.
The proposed UCC would create uniform rules for marriage, divorce, inheritance, adoption and property rights without prohibiting religious customs.
- Who
- The Rajasthan government, including Chief Minister Bhajanlal Sharma, Law Minister Jogaram Patel, Deputy Chief Ministers Diya Kumari and Premchand Bairwa, and the committee headed by former Supreme Court Justice Ranjana Prakash Desai.
- What
- The draft of Rajasthan's Uniform Civil Code Bill completed legal review and was forwarded to the Law Minister for approval before being placed before the Cabinet.
- When
- The committee submitted the draft last week, legal scrutiny continued through Monday night and Tuesday, and the Cabinet is expected to consider it on Thursday.
- Where
- Rajasthan, with the Cabinet meeting to be held at the Chief Minister's Office in the Secretariat in Jaipur.
- Why
- To replace religion-based personal laws with a uniform legal framework for marriage, divorce, inheritance, adoption and property rights.
- Draft length
- Approximately 200 pages
- Committee head
- Former Supreme Court Justice Ranjana Prakash Desai
- Law Minister
- Jogaram Patel
- Chief Minister
- Bhajanlal Sharma
- Expected Cabinet discussion
- Thursday, at the Chief Minister's Office in the Secretariat, Jaipur
- Reference states
- Uttarakhand (UCC implemented) and Gujarat (Bill passed, not yet enacted)
- Exclusion
- Tribal communities kept outside the Bill's ambit due to constitutional considerations
- Proposed measures
- Gender equality, compulsory registration of marriages, standardised family-law procedures