Uttarakhand UCC Bill: Property Rights to Muslim Women at Par with Their Brothers

Sources said that the minimum marriageable age for women irrespective of religions has been kept as 18 even as the UCC has granted property rights to Muslim women at par with their brothers. The UCC bill in Uttarakhand also has a provision to provide maintenance to women of Muslim community after divorce.

Dehradun: As the Pushkar Singh Dhami led BJP government in Uttarakhand tabled the controversial bill on Uniform Civil Code amid chants of 'Jai Shri Ram', 'Vande Mataram' and 'Bharat Mata ki Jai', the bill has proposed a minimum marriage for Muslim girls as 18 besides granting Muslim women right to property at par with Muslim men in the state, sources said.

It is learnt that under the UCC in Uttarakhand, the minimum marriageable age for girls of all religions including Hindu and Muslim girls has been fixed as 18. Also, women of all religions will get the right to get property from their father's property equal to that of their brothers, sources said. Besides, a provision has also been made in the UCC to provide maintenance to women of Muslim community after divorce.

Implementation of Uniform Civil Code in Uttarakhand was included in BJP's election manifesto at the time of last assembly elections. In the first cabinet meeting held after the formation of Pushkar Singh Dhami government on March 23, 2022, approval was given to implement UCC in the state. Also, the Cabinet had decided to constitute an expert committee to prepare the draft of UCC.

Following the instructions of the Central Government, an expert committee was formed headed by retired Supreme Court judge Ranjana Prakash Desai. Five members were included in the expert committee formed to prepare the draft of UCC. The committee handed over the draft of the Uniform Civil Code to Uttarakhand CM Pushkar Singh Dhami on Friday Feb 2.