New Delhi. Union Law Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal on Tuesday said that implementing the Uniform Civil Code (UCC) is part of the government’s agenda. He also said that a solution will be found on the issue of Memorandum of Procedure related to the appointment, promotion and transfer of High Court and Supreme Court judges, which is yet to be finalised. Meghwal also denied that there is a conflict between the judiciary and the executive. He took charge as Minister of State (Independent Charge) of the Ministry of Law and Justice on Tuesday. He also held the same department in the previous Modi government.
Responding to a question on major vacancies in his ministry, Meghwal said, “Wherever there are vacancies, whether it is the Supreme Court, High Court or our ministry or subordinate courts, we will try to fill them as soon as possible.” On the issue of holding simultaneous elections of Lok Sabha and Legislative Assemblies in the country, he said, “The committee headed by former President Ram Nath Kovind has submitted its report and we will give information about it later.” He said that the Law Commission is also working on this subject.
Before the Commission could submit its report, its chairman Justice (retired) Rituraj Awasthi moved to the Lokpal as a member.
Responding to a question on the Uniform Civil Code, Meghwal said it was part of the government’s agenda. He said the Uniform Civil Code has been part of the ruling BJP’s successive manifestos. Responding to a question on the Memorandum of Procedure, Meghwal said it was pending and the government had written to the Supreme Court Collegium on it. “I am confident we will find a solution to it,” he said. Resolving vacancies and pending cases in the higher judiciary and finalising the Memorandum of Procedure are the major challenges before Meghwal.
According to data shared by the government with Parliament, more than five crore cases are pending in lower courts, 25 High Courts and the Supreme Court. There are many reasons for the increasing pending cases, but one of the major reasons is the vacancies in the judiciary. While there were two vacancies in the apex court as of June 1, 345 posts of judges are vacant in the High Courts. Another major issue before Meghwal is to finalise the Memorandum of Procedure (MOP).
In an attempt to replace the collegium system of appointment of judges of the Supreme Court and high courts with a more transparent appointment mechanism, the government came up with the Constitution (99th Amendment) Act, 2014 and the National Judicial Appointments Commission Act, 2014. The new law was passed by Parliament almost unanimously. However, both Acts were challenged in the Supreme Court, which declared the Acts unconstitutional and void in October, 2015.