MUMBAI, June 24 -- The Maharashtra government will enact a Uniform Civil Code (UCC) on the lines of similar laws in Uttarakhand, Assam and Gujarat, and will constitute a committee headed by a retired high court judge to establish its legal framework. Such a law would replace the personal laws of various religions with a unified set of secular laws governing matters such as marriage, divorce, inheritance and maintenance, issues relating to triple talaq, among other things. Minister of state for home Yogesh Kadam on Tuesday told the state legislative assembly that the committee, whose constitution has been cleared by the chief minister, will table a draft bill to enact the UCC. "The committee will deliberate on the draft of the bill. We are determined to enact the law," said Kadam. The minister said that after the central government enacted the Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Marriage) Act 2018, popularly known as the 'Triple Talaq Act', instances of instant talaq pronounced over the phone or via email have declined. He said other issues, such as divorce, could be addressed through the UCC once enacted. He said cases relating to triple talaq are being dealt with strictly. As many as 42 cases were registered in 2024, and action was taken against 152 persons. In 2025, 39 such cases were registered and 95 of the 137 accused were arrested, he said. The issue of atrocities against Muslim women in relation to triple talaq was raised by BJP MLAs Devyani Farande and Manisha Chaudhari through a calling attention motion. Farande cited a couple of cases from Nashik, in which talaq was pronounced over the phone and where women were intimidated by their husbands following their separation. She said she knew of three such cases in the last 45 days. Farande said Maharashtra too needed a law to deal effectively with polygamy. "Remarriage is not allowed in Pakistan without the permission of the first wife and approval of the arbitration council," Farande pointed out. Opposition members objected to the discussion on triple talaq, alleging it was intended to target a specific community. Jayant Patil of the NCP (SP) and Vijay Wadettiwar (Congress) argued that the calling attention motion did not meet the prescribed norms and should not have been included in the day's business. Sana Malik (NCP) questioned whether polygamy existed only within the Muslim community. She also said the Triple Talaq Act, passed in 2018, had criminalised only Talaq-e-Biddat, one of three forms of talaq, claiming the practice was not prevalent in India....