
Uttarakhand implements Uniform Civil Code, ensuring equality in marriage, inheritance, adoption.
Last Updated on January 28, 2025 by NewsDesk SLC
Uttarakhand has become the second state after Goa to implement a Uniform Civil Code (UCC), which sets a single framework for marriage, divorce, property, inheritance, and adoption for all citizens. The code aims to ensure equality between communities and promote gender equality and social cohesion. It bans polygamy, child marriage, triple talaq, and introduces a single divorce process. The UCC also recognizes children born from live-in relationships as legitimate and ensures equal inheritance rights. The code will come into force almost a year after the bill was approved in the Uttarakhand Assembly. The UCC was a key election promise of the BJP in the 2022 state elections.
The new code mandates that marriages must be registered, with the minimum age for marriage set at 21 years for men and 18 years for women, ensuring they can complete their education before marriage. It also prohibits practices like Nikah Halala and Idat, which are followed by some parts of the Muslim community when a woman loses her husband or divorces.
A government panel led by Justice Ranjan Prakash Desai developed the UCC, gathering 2.33 lakh pieces of written feedback online and organizing over 70 public forums. The panel’s 749-page report contains several recommendations aimed at promoting gender equality and social cohesion. These recommendations were presented during a special four-day assembly in February last year.
Uttarakhand has also launched an online portal for UCC implementation, allowing citizens to register marriages, divorces, hereditary rights, and live-in relationships. These processes can be completed from mobile phones or desktop computers, and the application progress can be checked using email or SMS.
The UCC was a major vote plank for the BJP ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. Union Home Minister Amit Shah and Prime Minister Narendra Modi have both emphasized the importance of UCC, with Modi noting that it is already in place in Goa and everyone lives happily there. The UCC version in Goa is based on the Portuguese Civil Law of 1867, which applies to all religions in matters of marriage, divorce, and inheritance.
The passage of the UCC law in Uttarakhand has sparked debate on the need for similar legislation in other states, particularly those governed by the BJP.