Uttarakhand implements UCC, becomes first state in country to do so

UCC applies to all residents of Uttarakhand, except Scheduled Tribes and protected authority-empowered persons and communities

Uttarakhand on Monday became the first state in the country to implement the Uniform Civil Code with the ruling BJP fulfilling a major commitment made ahead of the 2022 Assembly polls.

The UCC came into force as Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami unveiled its notification, released the rules for its implementation and launched a portal created for the mandatory online registration of marriages, divorce and live-in relationships.

The event took place in the auditorium at Dhami's official residence called "Mukhya Sevak Sadan" in the presence of his ministerial colleagues and a host of senior officials.

"The UCC, creating equal laws for every citizen across all religions, comes fully into effect at this moment. The credit for it goes entirely to the people of the state," Dhami said at the function.

It is an instrument to put an end to all discriminatory practices against women regardless of their religion, he said.

It marks a historic moment as Uttarakhand is the first state in independent India to bring into effect a UCC, modelled basically upon the vision of a single set of laws applying to all citizens, regardless of their religion as enshrined in Article 44 of the Constitution.

It is also the fulfilment of a major pre-poll promise made by Dhami to the people of the state at the time of the 2022 Assembly polls which saw the BJP retaining power for a second consecutive term, a feat never achieved by any other party in the state since its creation in 2000.

On several occasions, Dhami has attributed the historic mandate to the party's commitment to the electorate about bringing a UCC if voted to power for the second time in a row.

As soon as Dhami formed the government again in March 2022, the state cabinet at its very first meeting chaired by him cleared a proposal for the formation of an expert committee to draft it.

An expert committee headed by retired Supreme Court Judge Ranjana Prakash Desai was constituted on May 27, 2022, to prepare the draft of the UCC.

The panel headed by Desai submitted a comprehensive draft of the UCC prepared after a prolonged dialogue with a cross-section of people to the state government on February 2, 2024.

A legislation on it was passed a few days later by the state Assembly on February 7. It was given president's assent nearly a month later paving the way for its implementation.

An expert committee headed by former chief secretary Shatrughan Singh, who was also a part of the drafting committee to frame the rules and regulations for the implementation of the Act, submitted its report to the state government late last year.

The state cabinet gave its approval to the report recently and authorised the chief minister to decide a date for its implementation.