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Historic moment, says Uttarakhand chief minister Dhami as he tables UCC Bill
UCC has been among key promises of the BJP apart from the construction of the Ayodhya Ram Temple and ending Jammu and Kashmir’s semi-autonomous status
Uttarakhand chief minister Pushkar Singh Dhami on Tuesday tabled the Uniform Civil Code (UCC) Bill, which provides for self-declaration of live-in relationships, mandatory registration of marriage and divorce besides making 18 marriageable age for women and 21 for men. The bill exempts Scheduled Tribes (ST), who account for the state’s 2.89% population, from its ambit.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi made a strong case for the UCC in June last year. Several tribal communities in both central India and the northeast protested the move.
“Our government, taking all sections of society along with full responsibility, has presented the Uniform Civil Code Bill...,” said Dhami after tabling the proposed legislation amid chants of Jai Shri Ram (Hail Lord Ram).
Dhami said Uttarakhand was about to witness a historic moment. He added the state would become a strong pillar of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s vision of “Ek Bharat, Shrestha Bharat (One India, Great India)”.
The House was adjourned until 2pm after the tabling of the bill for the legislators to read it before a discussion. Congress leader Yashpal Arya sought more time to examine the bill. “This is a 172-page bill and two hours are not enough to examine it. We need more time so that we can give our suggestions or raise issues that need to be looked into,” he said.
Parliamentary affairs minister Premchand Aggarwal gave a historical backdrop of the UCC after the House resumed and questioned why was not it brought up until now. He called the introduction of the bill a historic step. “Contrary to the Congress’s claims that they did not get time to examine the bill, many of its leaders have started commenting on it. I heard a Muslim woman talking about the UCC on a TV channel. She was lauding the UCC and questioning those who were opposing it.”
The bill, which has 392 sections divided into four parts and seven chapters, seeks to provide equal rights for women in inheritance in ancestral properties, adoption, and divorce. It provides for a ban on polygamy.
The bill was tabled on the second day of a special four-day assembly session convened to pass the legislation. Uttarakhand will become the first state to adopt the UCC if the bill is passed. Other BJP-ruled states such as Gujarat and Assam have promised to implement the UCC.
The UCC has been one of the three ideological promises of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) apart from the construction of the Ayodhya Ram Temple and ending Jammu and Kashmir’s semi-autonomous status under Constitution’s Article 370. It refers to a common set of laws for personal matters such as marriage, divorce, inheritance, and succession for all citizens.
Constitution’s Article 44, one of the directive principles of state policy, advocates the UCC. But respective religion-based civil codes have governed personal matters since independence.
The Uttarakhand Cabinet on Sunday approved a final draft of the bill after a former Supreme Court judge Ranjana Prakash Desai-led five-member committee submitted it to the government.
India has a system of personal laws mostly tied to rules and customs, especially for religious minorities. The Law Commission in a 2018 consultation paper called the UCC “neither necessary nor desirable at this stage”. The commission in 2023 sought views and suggestions on the UCC from the public and recognised religious organisations. The BJP promised to bring the UCC in the run-up to the 2022 Uttarakhand assembly elections.
The Dehradun district administration barred gatherings around the Uttarakhand assembly during the special assembly session given the possibility of protests and demonstrations against the introduction of the UCC.
