Ahmedabad: The Gujarat High Court has dismissed an appeal challenging a single bench order that had rejected a plea against the committee constituted by the State to examine the necessity of a Uniform Civil Code (UCC).

This development follows the single judge’s July order rejecting the plea against the formation of the committee, stating that the panel was created through an executive order and that, in the absence of any statutory provision, the selection of its members lies entirely within the State’s domain. The petitioner then moved the division bench.

On Monday, the division bench of Chief Justice Sunita Agarwal and Justice DN Ray held that the court cannot interfere in executive functions. Referring to Article 162 of the Constitution, the bench observed, “Separation of powers has to apply. We don’t have the power of judicial review over state functions which are purely within the purview of the state… We exercise the power of judicial review in cases where the executive fails to perform its duty. In a policy decision or executive function, the power of judicial review cannot be exercised.”

The appellant had argued that the State improperly appointed members of the committee without issuing a notification. However, the court noted, “The scope of judicial review under Article 226 of the Constitution of India does not permit us to enter into the prohibited arena of executive functions under Article 162 of the Constitution, as it would be against the basic structure doctrine,” Live Law reported.

The appeal was subsequently dismissed. DeshGujarat