The 22nd Law Commission of India has been constituted by the Central Government with former Karnataka High Court Chief Justice Justice Ritu Raj Awasthi as its Chairperson. However, the former Kerala High Court judge Justice KT Sankaran, Prof. Anand Paliwal, Prof. DP Verma, Prof. Dr. Raka Arya and Shri M. Karunanithi has also been appointed as members by the Centre.
Since August 31, 2018, the Law Commission of India had been remaining vacant after the retirement of the Chairperson of the 21st Commission, Justice BS Chauhan, the former Supreme Court judge.
Justice Ritu Raj Awasthi was a judge of the Allahabad High Court and has retire don 03.07.2022 as the Chief Justice of Karnataka High Court. Further, he has also presided over the Full Bench of the High Court which upheld the ban on wearing hijab by Muslim girls in Government colleges in Karnataka.
Justice KT Sankaran was a judge of the Kerala High Court from 2005, February to 2016, December. However, Justice Sankaran had created a controversy by propounding the theory of “love jihad” for the first time in the country in 2009. Latterly, it was held by another bench of the High Court held that there was no evidence to confirm the allegations of “love jihad”.
In the Supreme Court, a PIL is pending against the delay in constituting the Law Commission. Recently, the Centre informed the Supreme Court that the issue of Uniform Civil Code will be placed before the Law Commission of India as soon as it is constituted.
