In a special session of the state Assembly on February 6, the Uttarakhand government tabled the Uniform Civil Code (UCC) bill. This legislative move follows the recent submission of a draft by the government-appointed panel, led by retired Supreme Court judge Ranjana Prakash Desai last week, gaining approval from the state cabinet.
The proposed bill makes way for a uniform legal framework for issues such as marriage, divorce, land, property, adoption and inheritance applicable, irrespective of the religion of the people following it. However, the bill proposes to exempt members of the Scheduled Tribes from its ambit.
Protests erupted within the House from opposition members before the bill was presented in the Uttarakhand Assembly as the members stated that they were not given adequate time to examine the bill. The said bill runs into a total of 192 pages, and has been divided into four parts. The first part concerns itself with provisions related to marriage and divorce and has been divided into seven chapters. In regards to the aforementioned areas, the bill proposes to make all citizens of the state irrespective of their religion subject to the same law. It aims to prohibit practices like halala and iddat (Islamic rituals following divorce or the husband’s demise). The UCC also details a full prohibition on polygamy and child marriage, and reportedly seeks to set a standardized minimum age for girls across all religious groups for marriage, and also set a uniform procedure for divorce. According to the bill, the legal age for marriage for men is 21 whereas for women it is 18.
The second part of the bill contains provisions regarding successions and had been divided into seven chapters as well.
Under the many provisions introduced as a part of the UCC bill, a detailed set of guidelines for unmarried couples living with each other can be found under Part 3 of the bill. The Uttarakhand government has decided make it mandatory for couples to do registration of live-in relationships within the state. Surprisingly, through the provision, even people from the state who are residing in a live-in relationship outside Uttarakhand are required to provide a statement to the state Registrar. In furtherance to this, it has also specified that if either of the partners involved is below the age of 21 then the Registrar is obligated to notify their parents or guardian regarding the registration or termination of the live-in relationship. Even punitive actions have been attached by the state government in case of non-registration of such live-in relations beyond a period of one month, as people who fail to comply with these rules may face fines up to twenty-five thousand rupees or even imprisonment for 3 months or both. [Clause 387 (1)]
Furthermore, any person that makes any averment in the statement regarding the live-in relationships, which is false or the person making it has reason to believe to be false, or withholds any fact in this regard will be penalised with fine not exceeding twenty-five thousand or an imprisonment exceeding up to three months, or both. [Clause 387 (2)]
It is pertinent to highlight here that the bill also provides imprisonment for a term of six months or with a fine not exceeding twenty five thousand, or both, for the partners involved in case they fail to submit the statement of the live-in relationship on being required to do so through a notice. [Clause 387 (3)].
Reactions to the UCC bill:
According to NDTV, Uttarakhand’s Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami, had stated a day prior to tabling the bill that the said UCC bill will be for the good of all sections and also be in line Prime Minister Modi’s vision of ‘Sab ka Saath, Sab ka Vikas’ and ‘Ek Bharat, Sreshtha Bharat.’ However, as certain sections of Muslim women’s movements have rallied for doing away with the erstwhile Triple Talaq, however, they too have criticised the appropriation of their voices and issues by the communal politics of the BJP. According to reports, these Muslim organisations who had been fighting against Triple Talaq had not even been consulted when the central government was formulating the law, which shows the BJP’s own preoccupation with its own agendas.
The Uttarakhand State Parliamentary Affairs Minister Premchand Aggarwal has defined the UCC as the brainchild of RSS ideologue Syama Prasad Mukherjee, who also states that “many things could not be done earlier because of the politics of appeasement.”
The BJP has often rallied the cause of Muslim women and their supposed rights to divorce by propagating the Uniform Civil Code as a solution. However, this has had several dissenters, including those arguing for Muslim women’s rights from civil society groups who criticised the BJP for its politics of communalism. In an issue of Sabrang India dates, July 2004, sociologist and public writer, Yokinder Sikand has written extensively about how Muslim scholarship has relentlessly written about the outlawing the provision of Triple Talaq. Senior advocate Indira Jaisingh too wrote for Sabrang India about the need for all “unjust laws” to go whether they belong to Islam, Hinduism, or Christianity. However, a more recent piece on the implementation of a Uniform Civil Code highlights the complexities involved in ensuring that discrimination does not take place while trying to propagate uniformity and equality, argues that, “The denial of discussion, dialogue and debate towards attainment of goals and legal dictums halt advancement and progress, and can be counter-productive.”
Similarly, Teesta Setalvad, highlights how the Sangh Parivar has “communalised an essentially secular concern” which has led to an intellectual crisis. The piece argues that Muslim women are caught between the Hindu right and the Muslim orthodoxy. The Hindutva rise in support of a UCC is thereby argued to be for unification of the nation, which the BJP does on communitarian and communal lines.
However, the UCC it seems is here to stay as legislators across the country from BJP ruled states vow to bring it.
On February 2, Assam CM Himantaa Biswa Sarmaa was seen stating that “We are lining up Assam Polygamy Ban Act. We will also closely monitor the developments in Uttarakhand.”
Please embed:
VIDEO | “We are lining up Assam Polygamy Ban Act. We will also closely monitor the developments in Uttarakhand. If Uttarakhand UCC Bill is laid on Feb 5, then we will see if we are in a position to implement the UCC (in Assam),” says CM @himantabiswa. pic.twitter.com/lcEvp5oLGC
— Press Trust of India (@PTI_News) February 2, 2024
Similarly, Rajasthan’s minister Kanhaiya Lal Choudhury has supported the bill, staying that Rajasthan is second to implement the UCC after Uttarakhand.
The UCC bill can be found here:
Related:
Uniform Civil Code or Gender Justice?
The Implementation of a Uniform Civil Code
Muslim women need not move court to register divorce by talaq: Kerala High Court