The committee appointed to prepare Gujarat’s draft Uniform Civil Code directed the state’s legal department on Monday to act on a complaint filed by a civil society group about “consent forms” allegedly being circulated in government schools, The Indian Express reported.

The complaint by the Minority Coordination Committee, which advocates for the rights of religious minorities, claimed the forms were being distributed to “coerce students of the minority community” to support the implementation of the Uniform Civil Code.

The code is a common set of laws governing marriage, divorce, succession and adoption for all citizens. Currently, such personal affairs of different religious and tribal groups are based on community-specific laws, largely derived from religious scripture.

The introduction of a common personal law has long been on the Bharatiya Janata Party’s agenda and several states ruled by the Hindutva party have been taking steps towards implementing it.

In February, the Gujarat government appointed a five-member committee to prepare a draft Uniform Civil Code for the state.

On Saturday, members of the Minority Coordination Committee informed retired Supreme Court judge Ranjana Desai about the “unattributed” documents that were found in several government primary schools in Vadodara city, including in Akota and Tandalja, The Indian Express reported.

This came three days after several schools in the Naswadi taluka of Chhota Udepur district allegedly “coerced students to file consent” to the code, according to the newspaper. Teachers of the schools in the region had claimed that the form had been sent by the Cluster Resource Centres.

The centres come under the state’s education department.

The alleged consent form, titled “A Questionnaire on Uniform Civil Code-Gujarat”, is based on another form inviting individual suggestions that is available on the Gujarat government’s dedicated Uniform Civil Code website. The form, which was allegedly printed out and circulated, included the same 13 questions listed on the website.

“The teachers have received the general UCC [Uniform Civil Code] consent forms from the Cluster Resource Centre to fill up responses of individuals,” the newspaper quoted an unidentified official from the education department as saying. “We are still looking into the complaint.”

According to CL Meena, a retired Indian Administrative Service officer who is a member of the Gujarat Uniform Civil Code Committee, the panel had made a “general appeal” to persons who had attained the age of 18 years to submit their “opinions”, The Indian Express reported.

Meena added that no such exercise had been advised for schools.

“We will look into the matter,” the newspaper quoted him as saying. “We have made general appeals in public seeking voluntary opinions of persons, who have attained 18 years of age. If there is substance in the complaint that school children under 18 are being made to consent to UCC forms, we will give directions to the district collectors accordingly.”

On Sunday, the civil society group filed a formal complaint about the forms with the Gujarat Uniform Civil Code Committee.

“I wish to bring to your urgent attention that several government-run schools are reportedly coercing students, in place of their parents, to sign documents supporting the Uniform Civil Code,” The Indian Express quoted Minority Coordination Committee member Sagirahamed Ansari as stating in the complaint.

“This practice is not only unethical and misleading, but it also violates the rights of both the students and their families,” the complaint said. “Such actions undermine the principles of informed consent and democratic process. I urge you to take immediate steps to investigate this matter and ensure accountability of those responsible.”

On Monday, the Gujarat Uniform Civil Code Committee said it received a formal complaint a day earlier seeking an investigation into the forms being distributed to school students, The Indian Express reported.

“It is requested to consider the facts in the case and initiate further action in the matter,” it told the legal department.

On January 27, the Uttarakhand government implemented the Uniform Civil Code in the state, making it the first state to do so after Independence. A common civil code has been in place in Goa since the Portuguese Civil Code was adopted in 1867.

In its campaign for the Uniform Civil Code in Uttarakhand, the BJP had mainly targeted Muslim personal law, arguing that it discriminates against women as it allows Muslim men to practice polygamy, inherit a greater share of property, initiate divorce and deny alimony.

Legal experts have said that the legislation has primarily drawn from Hindu personal law and could lead to the erasure of the personal law practices of minority communities.

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