Uttarakhand UCC draft submitted to CM; polygamy ban, live-in declaration on the cards

The committee for preparing a draft for the Uniform Civil Code (UCC) in the state of Uttarakhand has submitted the document to Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami on Friday. 

Sources have revealed that the draft includes points related to ban on the practice of polygamy, equal inheritance rights, and mandatory declaration of live-in relationships.

The panel headed by former Supreme Court judge Justice Ranjana Prakash Desai submitted the UCC draft to Dhami at a programme organised at Mukhya Sevak Sadan. Security was tightened outside Dhami's official residence ahead of the draft submission.

As per reports, the UCC draft has the provision that the marriage age for girls will be 18 years and that for boys will be 21 years. There will be mandatory registration for marriage

Meanwhile, both husband and wife will have equal reasons and grounds for divorce. The same grounds of divorce which are applicable for the husband will also be applicable to the wife. 

Reports state that in the draft, second marriage will not be possible as long as one wife is alive, which effectively means that polygamy will be banned. 

The draft also reportedly states that girls will have equal rights in inheritance as boys

Another crucial point of the draft, as per reports, is that a declaration of live-in relationship will be necessary. This will be like a self-declaration

The draft has also reportedly stated that Scheduled Tribe people will remain outside the ambit of UCC

Noteworthy is that a special four-day session of the Uttarakhand assembly will be held from February 5-8 to pass legislation on the UCC.

After receiving the UCC draft, the state government will approve it in a cabinet meeting on Saturday. The draft is likely to be tabled in the form of a bill in the Assembly on February 6.