A bill for the Uniform Civil Code (UCC) implementation was on Tuesday expected to be tabled in the Uttarakhand assembly on the second day of a special four-day session convened to pass the legislation. Uttarakhand will become the first state to adopt the UCC if the bill is passed in the assembly.
Other BJP-ruled states such as Gujarat and Assam have also promised to implement the UCC, which has been one of the three ideological promises of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) apart from the construction of the Ram temple in Ayodhya and ending Jammu and Kashmir’s semi-autonomous status under Constitution’s Article 370.
UCC refers to a common set of laws for personal matters such as marriage, divorce, inheritance, and succession for all citizens. Constitution’s Article 44, one of the directive principles of state policy, advocates the UCC. But respective religion-based civil codes have governed personal matters since independence.
Chief minister Pushkar Singh Dhami on Sunday called the UCC the need of the hour and added they have been moving towards implementing it.
The state Cabinet earlier approved a final draft UCC after a former Supreme Court judge Ranjana Prakash Desai-led five-member committee submitted it to the Uttarakhand government.
HT on Monday reported the committee submitted a 740-page report suggesting changes to existing frameworks governing marriages, divorce, property rights, succession/inheritance, adoption, maintenance, custody, and guardianship.
The report suggested equal rights for women in inheritance, adoption, and divorce as well as a ban on polygamy. It suggested 18 as the minimum age for marriage for women. The Prohibition of Child Marriage Act proscribes marriage of women under 18 and men under 21.
Desai-led committee has suggested mandatory marriage registration and self-declaration for live-in relationships.
India has a system of personal laws mostly tied to rules and customs, especially for religious minorities. The law commission in a 2018 consultation paper called the UCC “neither necessary nor desirable at this stage”. The commission in 2023 sought views and suggestions on UCC from the public and recognised religious organisations.
The BJP promised to bring UCC in the run-up to the 2022 Uttarakhand assembly elections.
The Dehradun district administration barred gatherings around the Uttarakhand assembly during the special assembly session given the possibility of protests and demonstrations against the introduction of UCC.
