Today, the Uttarakhand State Government rolled out the Uniform Civil Code in the state, almost a year after the Uttarakhand Assembly passed the Uttarakhand Uniform Civil Code (UCC) Bill, 2024. It has become the first state in the country to implement UCC. An announcement was made in this regard by Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami, who also launched the rules manual for the UCC and...
Today, the Uttarakhand State Government rolled out the Uniform Civil Code in the state, almost a year after the Uttarakhand Assembly passed the Uttarakhand Uniform Civil Code (UCC) Bill, 2024. It has become the first state in the country to implement UCC.
An announcement was made in this regard by Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami, who also launched the rules manual for the UCC and a portal for applications under the new rules at the CM's camp office in Dehradun.
Some key aspects of the UCC are mandatory registration of live-in relations, conditions for a contract marriage, a ban on halal, iddat and polygamy, and similar inheritance rights for men and women.
It applies not only to Uttarakhand but also to State residents living outside its territories. The application to Scheduled Tribes, however, is excluded.
One of the most significant changes set out in the Act is mandatory registration of live-in relationships. Unprecedented to Indian law, persons who are part of live-in relationships (being Uttarakhand residents) are now required to register before a Registrar within one month of "entering the relationship”. On failure to do so, a jail sentence, or fine, or both may be awarded.
The President of India, Droupadi Murmu had assented to the Uttarakhand's UCC Bill last year in March.
