When Will Uniform Civil Code Be Implemented As Uttarakhand Govt Clears Manual, What Will Change? – News18

Last Updated:January 20, 2025, 11:43 IST

Uttarakhand CM Pushkar Singh Dhami hinted that the final notification on UCC likely to be issued this month. The bill was passed in the Assembly last February and was approved by the President

Uniform Civil Code makes it obligatory for the man and woman, who are living in Uttarakhand to submit a statement of the live-in relationship to the registrar concerned. (Getty Images)

The Uttarakhand government on Monday approved the Uniform Civil Code (UCC) manual in a cabinet meeting held at the state secretariat. Uttarakhand CM Pushkar Singh Dhami hinted that the final notification on UCC likely to be issued this month.

“We had promised the people of Uttarakhand in 2022 that we will bring the UCC Bill as soon as our government is formed. We brought it. The draft committee drafted it, it was passed, the President approved it and it became an act. The process of training is also almost complete… After analysing everything, we will announce the dates soon,” he said.

Reports suggest that Dhami had earlier said the UCC would be implemented in the state during the auspicious phase that begins with Makar Sankranti.

The Bill was one of the poll promises of the BJP during Assembly elections in Uttarakhand in 2022.

What Is The Uniform Civil Code?

The UCC means one law that would be applicable to all religious communities in matters such as marriage, divorce, inheritance, adoption, maintenance etc. India has a uniform or one set of ‘criminal code’ for all its citizens but doesn’t have uniform civil law.

Tribals have been kept out of the UCC ambit, and has a complete ban on practices like halala, iddat, and talaq (customs related to marriage and divorce in Muslim Personal Law).

The UCC, which has 392 sections under seven schedules, is based on over 750-page draft, spread in four volumes, prepared by an expert committee formed by the government in June 2022, to examine the way the law can be introduced in the state.

The five-member expert committee, headed by Retd. Justice Ranjana Prakash Desai, had submitted its draft to Uttarakhand on February 2, 2024, which was subsequently passed by the State Cabinet on February 4. The Bill, after it was passed in the Assembly during a special session, was sent for Governor’s nod and was approved by the Lt. Gen Gurmit Singh (Retd) on February 28.

Under Article 201 of the ‘Constitution of India’, the President gave assent to the ‘Uniform Civil Code Uttarakhand 2024’ Bill passed by the Uttarakhand Legislative Assembly, on March 11 2024, and it is published as Act Number 3, the year 2024, of Uttarakhand for general information.

The government has already formed a committee to make rules and implementation of UCC which is headed by retired IAS officer and UCC draft committee member Shatrughan Singh.

What The Constituent Assembly Said About UCC

Dr BR Ambedkar, who was chairperson of the drafting committee of the Indian constitution, said, “We have a uniform and complete Criminal Code operating throughout the country, which is contained in the Penal Code and the Criminal Procedure Code. We have the Law of Transfer of Property, which deals with property relations and which is operative throughout the country. Then there are the Negotiable Instruments Acts: and I can cite innumerable enactments which would prove that this country has practically a Civil Code, uniform in its content and applicable to the whole of the country.”

Important Court Judgments Favouring UCC

Shah Bano Case: The Supreme Court remarked, “A common civil code will help the cause of national integration by removing disparate loyalties to law which have conflicting ideologies.”

Sarla Mudgal Versus Union of India: In this case the apex court stated, “Pandit Jawahar Lal Nehru, while defending the introduction of the Hindu Code Bill instead of a uniform civil code, in the Parliament in 1954, said “I do not think that at the present moment the time is ripe in India for me to try to push it through”. It appears that even 41 years thereafter, the Rulers of the day are not in a mood to retrieve Article 44 from the cold storage where it has been lying since 1949″. It added, “The governments – which have come and gone – have so far failed to make any effort towards “unified personal law for all Indians”. The reasons are too obvious to be stated. The utmost that has been done is to codify the Hindu law in the form of the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955. The Hindu Succession Act, 1956, the Hindu Minority and Guardianship Act, 1956 and the Hindu Adoptions and Maintenance Act, 1956 which have replaced the traditional Hindu law based on different schools of thought and scriptural laws into one unified code. When more than 80% of the citizens have already been brought under the codified personal law there is no justification whatsoever to keep in abeyance, any more, the introduction of “uniform civil code” for all citizens in the territory of India.”

UCC In Goa: In a 2019 succession case of a Goan resident, the Supreme Court observed, “It is interesting to note that whereas the founders of the, Constitution in Article 44 in Part IV dealing with the Directive Principles of State Policy had hoped and expected that the State shall endeavour to secure for the citizens a Uniform Civil Code throughout the territories of India, till date no action has been taken in this regard. Though Hindu laws were codified in the year 1956, there has been no attempt to frame a Uniform Civil Code applicable to all citizens of the country despite exhortations of this Court”.

What Will Change For Couples In Live-In Relationships?

Section 378 of the UCC bill makes it obligatory for the man and woman, who are living in the state, regardless of whether they are residents of Uttarakhand or not, to submit a “statement of the live-in relationship” to the registrar concerned.

If the couple is living outside, the residents of Uttarakhand will have to submit a status of their live-relationship to the registrar within their jurisdiction.

The legislation says a delay of even month in registration or furnishing false information would attract a jail term up to six months and a fine of Rs 25,000.

Authorities can issue a notice to the couple on their own or based on a complaint for not registering their relationship.

According to the legislation, children born out of the live-in relationship “shall be legitimate”, and the child will enjoy same rights and benefits as from legally wedded parents.

The bill also mandates payment of maintenance, similar to marriage, in case the woman is deserted by her partner in a live-in relationship.

In case the couple wants to end their relationship, they will have to give a notice to the other party and the Registrar to ensure that the termination is recognised by the authorities.

Impact On Personal Laws

Adoption: The UCC will bring uniformity, which means, communities, which were currently not allowed to legally adopt a child, may be given such an option. At present, the Hindu Adoption and Maintenance Act (1956) is meant only for Hindus, Jains, Sikhs and Buddhists.

Muslim community: If UCC is adopted, practices such as contract marriage (mutah), Nikah halala, misyar marriage, and polygamy would likely become ineffective. Even the minimum marriage age under the Shariat law would be changed. The UCC will bring more accepted ways through which both Muslim men and women can end their marriage.

Christian Marriage: At present, the Catholic law recognises a Christian marriage as permanent, indissoluble, while some may also recognising it as a contract. The UCC will bring uniformity in marriages.

Sikh Community: The Anand Marriage Act of 1909 governs the marriage laws of Sikhs. However, there is no provision for divorce. If the UCC is introduced, a common law for divorce is likely to be applied to all communities, including Sikhs.