Dehradun, 27 January 2025- Devbhoomi Uttarakhand has created history on Monday. Uniform Civil Code (UCC) has come into force in the state. In Dehradun, Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami inaugurated the portal and manual of UCC at Mukhya Sevak Sadan. With this, Uttarakhand became the first state in the country to implement the Uniform Civil Code.
An expert committee was constituted on 27 May 2022 for the Uniform Civil Code. The committee submitted its report to the government on 2 February 2024. After this, the bill was passed in the Assembly on 8 March 2024. After passing from the Assembly, it was sent for the approval of the President.
From here, on 12 March 2024, this Act got the approval of the President. After this, technology based arrangements were implemented for the implementation of UCC. Online portals were developed for citizens and officials. On January 20, the Cabinet passed it by finalizing the manual of UCC.
For the past several days, mock drills were also going on at various levels regarding registration on its portal. The problems faced earlier in the mock drill held on Friday were resolved. The UCC manual was also launched at 12.30 pm.
More than 400 sections in the draft
Devbhoomi Uttarakhand has become the first state after independence to implement UCC in the country. According to sources, there are more than 400 sections in the draft, which aims to remove the discrepancies arising from traditional customs.
Meeting two and a half lakh people directly to know their opinion on this issue
Important aspects of the draft were discussed in a marathon meeting in July 2023 and it was finalized. The committee received about 20 lakh suggestions on the Uniform Civil Code both online and offline. Out of these, the committee had to meet about two and a half lakh people directly to know their opinion on this issue.
No mention of religion, above custom, practice and tradition
The country’s first Uniform Civil Code (UCC) bill does not mention any particular religion, but many changes in the rules have been made the basis for ending custom, tradition and practice. Iddat, Halala have also not been mentioned directly anywhere. However, second marriage after one marriage has been declared completely illegal.
Iddat-Halala defined in this way
The UCC bill has restricted the conditions regarding the remarriage of a woman (whether it is marriage with the same old divorced person or with some other person). The code believed that this will end the Iddat on the death of the husband and Halala i.e. marriage and divorce with another person before marriage with the same person again after the Nikah is broken. In the UCC, a provision of three years of imprisonment and a fine of one lakh rupees has been made in case of a Halala case.
Polygamy has been banned
Polygamy has been completely banned in the UCC bill. Registration of every marriage and divorce will be possible only at the level of village, Nagar Panchayat, Nagar Palika, Municipal Corporation, Mahanagar Palika. The portal will also be a medium for this. It has been clarified in the bill that after one marriage, second marriage has been completely banned.
The legal age for marriage will be fixed at 21 years
The age of marriage has been made equal for all religions. Minimum 21 years for men and minimum 18 years for women. In Muslim Personal Law, the age of marriage is fixed at adulthood or 15 years, but now there will be only one age limit for everyone in the state. However, it was clarified that this will not affect the customs of any religion, sect, denomination and belief. Nikah, Anand Karaj, rounds in front of fire and Holi matrimony customs will be according to their beliefs. However, it has also been clarified that scheduled tribes will remain outside the purview of UCC.
Now jail will be imposed for living in live-in relationship without registration
Along with this, it will be necessary for those living in live-in relationship to get registered. After the implementation of Uniform Civil Code, it will be necessary to register the live-in relationship on the web portal in Uttarakhand within one month. If the couple does not get registered, they can face six months imprisonment and a penalty of 25 thousand or both. On the basis of the receipt that the couple will get as registration, they will be able to get a house, hostel or PG on rent.