Uttarakhand Assembly Passes Uniform Civil Code Bill; Other States Should Follow, Says CM Dhami

Uttarakhand Assembly Wednesday cleared the contentious Uniform Civil Code bill which brings in uniform rules in personal laws but has drawn criticism from several quarters.

Dehradun:In a significant development, the Uttarakhand Assembly on Wednesday became the first one in the country to pass a Uniform Civil Code (UCC) Bill that brings in uniform laws applicable to all the communities in India when it comes to personal laws on marriage, inheritance, and divorce among others.

The bill was passed by voice vote amid chants of "Jai Shri Ram" in the Assembly even though the opposition Congress members had moved a proposal to refer the legislation to a select committee of the House. Shortly before the bill was cleared, Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami suggested other states should also come up with similar laws.

Once the Bill gets the governor's consent, Uttarakhand will become the first state after independence to get a common law on marriage, divorce, land, property and inheritance for all citizens, irrespective of their religion.

"This is not an ordinary bill... India is a huge country but our state got the opportunity to create history and give a direction to the whole country... The dream that the Constitution makers saw, is going to go on the ground and become a reality... Other states of the country should also move in the same direction... We are going to create history," Dhami said as he spoke on the bill in the state assembly.

Earlier, the opposition legislators said they were not opposing the UCC bill but its provisions need to be examined in detail so that its flaws can be removed before its passage.

Deputy Leader of Opposition in the Assembly Bhuvan Chandra Kapri said the provisions for registration of live-in relationships and informing parents of live-in partners under the age of 21 in the proposed bill is an infringement on the privacy of young adults. He also said many of its provisions like mandatory registration of marriages, ban on child marriage and minimum marriageable age have been there and have nothing new about them.

"The panel, which took 20 months to prepare the draft of the UCC, seems to have done only cut, copy and paste of laws which were already in existence," he said. Laksar MLA Shahjad alleged that the UCC bill curtails the religious rights of Muslims. He also said equal inheritance rights to sons and daughters in parental property would lead to rise in female foeticide.

Chakrata MLA Pritam Singh questioned the applicability of the UCC's provisions. "It says its provisions will apply to the people from Uttarakhand living outside the state but how in effect will it happen? The situation is strange," he said. Talking about the provisions made in the bill about live-in relationships, he said even the Supreme Court had said the registration of live-in relationships is a "foolish idea".

However, Vikas Nagar MLA Munna Singh Chauhan aggressively defended the bill saying UCC is a commitment of the country's founding fathers. He said,"It is a watershed moment in the life of a small state like Uttarakhand that it has taken the lead in stepping towards enacting a legislation which was envisioned by the Constitution makers." (With agency inputs)

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