Dehradun, January 27, 2025 – Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami has begun to provide insights to the entire state about the Uniform Civil Code’s (UCC) impending implementation to clear the air about second marriages, live-in relationships, and property/land rights of daughters.
The UCC is going to be brought into force from January 27 with an objective to establish a common set of personal laws for every resident in Uttarakhand, irrespective of their religion, enhancing equality and social justice.
Equal Rights in Marriage and Divorce
The UCC seeks to make marriage and divorce laws uniform. This guarantees equal rights for males and females. The minimum marriageable age shall be as provided by the Constitution and the personal law of the country, 18 years for women and 21 for men. All marriages in Uttarakhand will have to be registered, according to the UCC, a move taken to prevent any disputes that may arise from unregistered marriages.
The provision further prohibits polygamy, whereby an individual shall not have multiple spouses simultaneously. Such provision is going to promote monogamy and gender equitability across all communities.
Regulation of Live-in Relationships
One of the most liberal approaches has yet to be taken by the UCC concerning live-in relationships, granting them legal recognition. Couples in a live-in relationship within the UCC must register their relationship with a specified authority. Otherwise, they will face penalties, which may include up to three months of imprisonment, a fine of up to ₹10,000, or both.
The code would aim to protect the rights of people having a live-in relationship, so that their issues could receive legal attention, not only during their cohabitation but also later on for any issues concerning children born out of such relationships.
Property Rights for Daughters
The UCC grants equal property rights to sons and daughters, which promotes gender equality. This makes no mention of ancestral and self-acquired property, thereby abolishing traditional discrimination in matters of inheritance by ensuring that daughters have the same rights granted to sons.
Moreover, the UCC has classified fathers as Class I heirs in cases of intestate succession, which is unlikely to get much respite under current Hindu law.
The imposition of the UCC has attracted mixed reactions. The Muslims’ women rights activists rejoiced in the prohibition of polygamy, regarding this as yet another significant stride into gender equality and league with discriminatory practices. The leaders among some communities were, however, restless: they suggested that while UCC may be imposing on conventional personal laws and customs.
The political analysts opined that the Uniform Civil Code, while being aspirationally extended for homogeneity, has exempted the Scheduled Tribes and therefore could have a potential contestation over its effective applicability in reality.
With such a provision to substitute the Uniform Civil Code, there arises the most significant juncture in the particular zones in Uttarakhand concerning an avalanche of changes in its legal and social standing.
That denotes marriage, live-in relationships, and general provisions over inheritance that explained moving towards homogeneity and equality indeed are truly going to make an impact; maybe the effect of these law reforms is going to become more difference once society manages to catch up with the dynamics while meeting the hurdles inseparable from such an upheaval.
