UCC case: Present any prayers previously made to SC with similar issues, says Delhi HC

New Delhi: The Delhi High Court on Tuesday said that implementation of a Uniform Civil Code (UCC) was prima facie not maintainable and asked the petitioner to present any prayers he had previously made to the Supreme Court with analogous issues.
A division bench of Chief Justice Satish Chandra Sharma and Justice Subramonium Prasad, dealing with a plea by lawyer Ashwini Kumar Upadhyay, said: “You file those prayers. We will see. It is prima facie not maintainable. We will first see if it is maintainable.” The court was apprised that the top court declined to hear Upadhyay’s petitions in March, noting that these petitions related to gender-neutral and religion-neutral laws belonged to the legislative branch and that he had even withdrawn a UCC-related petition from there in 2015.
It directed the petitioner to submit the prayers in these matters within four weeks after remarking that a “simpliciter withdrawal” must be separated from a “withdrawal with liberty” to approach a court with the same complaint.
Representing the All India Muslim Personal Law Board, lawyer M.R. Shamshad said that he was the intervenor in the case and the Supreme Court has rejected Upadhyay’s petitions on the same subject matter.
“He filed four petitions in the Supreme Court which were dismissed. This was his second round,” he said.