Uttarakhand Assembly passes Uniform Civil Code Bill during special session

The Uttarakhand Assembly on Wednesday passed the Uniform Civil Code bill, which may serve as template for other BJP-run states to enact similar legislation.

The UCC bill was passed by voice vote after a two-day debate. The opposition's proposal for referring the draft legislation to a select committee of the House on the ground that they did not get enough time to study its provisions was rejected.

The bill will now be sent to President Droupadi Murmu for her assent after which it will become a law. BJP-ruled states like Gujarat and Assam appear keen to model their UCCs on the bill passed by the Uttarakhand Assembly.

Uttarakhand will now become the first state after Independence to get a common law on marriage, divorce, land, property and inheritance for all citizens, irrespective of their religion.

During the discussion, Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami said it is not an ordinary legislation.

"With its passage, a small state like Uttarakhand will script history," he said.

He said the UCC will create equal laws for men and women across all faiths and will help create a non-partisan and non-discriminatory society. It will especially protect the rights of women and put an end to their exploitation, Dhami said.

The hill state's small tribal community is exempted from the proposed law, which also mandates registration of live-in relationships.

Children born of live-in relationships will be considered legitimate and deserted women will be entitled to maintenance from their partners.

The bill effectively bans polygamy and 'halala' practised among a section of Muslims. Marriages, though, can be solemnised through separate rituals, like saptapadi, nikah and anand karaj, followed by different communities.

The bill applies to the whole of Uttarakhand and to people from the state living outside.

"Nothing contained in this code shall apply to the members of any Scheduled Tribes... and the persons and group of persons whose customary rights are protected under the Part XXI of the Constitution of India," the bill says.

Like marriages, live-in relationships must be registered. Live-in partners must not be under 18. But if any one of them is under 21, the registrar is bound to inform their parents or guardians.

The bill stipulates a penalty of up to a month in prison or a fine of Rs 10,000, or both, if the partners do not submit a statement on their relationship to the registrar within a month.

If a woman in a live-in relationship is deserted by her partner, she can approach the court for maintenance from him. There is also a provision to terminate a live-in relationship.

The bill makes it clear that a marriage between a man and a woman can be solemnised if neither party has a spouse living at the time of marriage. In effect, this bans polygamy and polyandry.

It also spells out the right to remarry after divorce or the nullification of marriage, provided there is no appeal pending.

And in an apparent reference to halala', it specifies that this includes the right to marry the divorced spouse without any condition, such as marrying a third person before such remarriage.

The bill also deals with the issue of marrying when the spouses are related in some manner.

It gives the nod to marriages when the couple are not within the degrees of prohibited relationship. But it makes an exemption to custom or usage that permits such marriages, provided they are not against public policy and morality.