Dehradun : After the Uniform Civil Code Bill was passed in the Uttarakhand Assembly, it was sent for the approval of the Governor. Now Governor Gurmeet Singh has sent this bill to President Droupadi Murmu for her approval. Uttarakhand is just one step away from the implementation of UCC. After the approval of President Murmu, this law will be implemented in Uttarakhand, sources said.
With the implementation of UCC in Uttarakhand, the Dhami government will set an example for other states. Recently, during the special session of the Assembly, the Dhami government had got this bill passed in the Assembly. Uttarakhand is going to become the first state to implement Uniform Civil Code. The government hopes that the President will give green signal to this law before the Lok Sabha elections.
After this, it will be implemented in Uttarakhand. On its part, BJP will use the Uttarakhand example to push USS in other states as well. Important provisions of Uniform Civil Code are as follows:
- Marriage registration will be mandatory. If registration is not done, you may be deprived of government facilities.
- Second marriage will be completely banned as long as the husband and wife are alive.
- For all religions, the minimum age for marriage has been set at 21 years for boys and 18 years for girls.
- If one of the married couple changes religion without the consent of the other, then the other person will have full right to divorce and claim maintenance.
- In case of divorce or domestic dispute between husband and wife, the custody of the child up to 5 years of age will remain with the mother.
- In all religions there is a provision to give equal right to divorce to husband and wife.
- There will be a ban on the practice of Halala and Iddat prevalent in the Muslim community.
- The daughter will be given equal rights in property for all classes in all religions and communities.
- There will be no distinction between legitimate and illegitimate children in terms of property rights. Whereas, these illegitimate children will also be counted among the biological children of that couple.
- After the death of a person, his wife and children are given equal rights in his property. His mother and father will also have equal rights in his property. The property rights of the child in a woman’s womb will also be protected.
- Registration will also be mandatory for live-in relationships. The registrar will have to inform the parents or guardian of the couple registering.
- Apart from this, children born during live-in relationship will be considered as legitimate children of that couple. That child will get all the rights of a biological child.
During the 2022 assembly elections, Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami had talked about implementing UCC. As soon as the government was formed, in the first cabinet meeting, it was decided to constitute an expert committee to prepare the draft of UCC. Regarding UCC, a 5-member committee was formed under the chairmanship of retired Supreme Court judge Justice Ranjana Prakash Desai. The committee made a thorough study and came out with the draft of UCC. At the same time, on 6 February, the Uniform Civil Code was passed in the Assembly.
The simple meaning of Uniform Civil Code is that the law is equal for every person. Irrespective of religion or caste, the same law will equally apply to people of all religions in matters of marriage, divorce and distribution of land and property.
