The Gujarat High Court on Monday dismissed a challenge to the state government’s decision to constitute a committee to assess the need for a Uniform Civil Code (UCC), holding that the move falls squarely within the executive’s policy domain and is beyond the court’s scope of judicial review.
A division bench of Chief Justice Sunita Agarwal and Justice D N Ray upheld an earlier single-judge order and reiterated that Article 162 of the Constitution empowers the state to take executive decisions, including the formation of committees. The bench said the judiciary cannot interfere unless the executive either fails to perform its duties or exceeds its jurisdiction.
“Under Article 162 of the Constitution, the government holds such power. So, the separation of power principle has to apply. We do not have any power of judicial review in such functions which are purely in the domain of the state,” the bench observed.
The court added that the scope of judicial review under Article 226 “does not permit us to enter into the prohibited arena of executive functions under Article 162 as it would be against the basic structure of the Constitution”.
The petition was filed by Abdul Vahab Sopariwala, a Surat resident, who argued that the panel lacked representation from minority communities and had been constituted without issuing a formal notification. His earlier plea had been rejected in July by a single bench of Justice Niral R Mehta, who held that the UCC committee was created “purely by an executive order” and within the “absolute domain” of the state government.
Before the division bench, Sopariwala’s counsel Zameer Shaikh submitted that the government “cannot act in this manner without publishing any notification”.
The bench was not persuaded. “We exercise power of judicial review in a case where the executive fails to perform their duties or they exceed their jurisdiction. This is purely a policy decision, or executive function, and the court is not supposed to interfere,” the Chief Justice said.
The Gujarat government announced the UCC committee on February 4. It is chaired by former Supreme Court judge Justice Ranjana Desai, with members including former IAS officer C L Meena, advocate R C Kodekar, former university vice-chancellor Dakshesh Thakar, and social activist Geetaben Shroff. The panel was tasked with examining the necessity of a Uniform Civil Code in the state and preparing a draft bill.
With the division bench’s order, the committee’s formation stands fully upheld, and the challenge comes to an end.
