Uttarakhand UCC protects women in live-in ties: Panel chief
The BJP-ruled Uttarakhand on Monday became the first state in the country to roll out the Uniform Civil Code (UCC) to govern matters related to marriage, divorce, live-in relationships and succession across faiths. Barring the 2.9% population of the Scheduled Tribes, the UCC will cover everyone in the state.
As the law took force with Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami unveiling the UCC portal in Dehradun today, Shatrughan Singh, Chairperson, UCC Rules and Implementation Committee, Uttarakhand, spoke to The Tribune about what would change after today. He said the UCC dealt mainly with three segments — marriages/divorces; live-in ties and succession.
The main theme, he said, was granting equal, if not more, rights to women than men. “From today, all discriminatory practices such as polygamy and nikah halala are outlawed. The UCC protects women in live-in ties and is positively biased towards them. Women in live-in ties, until they remarry or enter another relationship, can claim maintenance in case of abandonment. Her male partner won’t have this right,” he said.
Noting that all marriages, live-in relationships and divorces will now need registration, Singh added that children born to live-in couples will have the same rights as those born to married couples or adopted by them.
“Marriages can be registered with sub-registrars, identified in UCC law as block village development officers. Live-in relationships will have to be registered with SDMs,” Singh said, adding that non-disclosure of live-in ties would invite jail terms and fines. “Whoever stays in a live-in relationship for over a month from starting it without making a statement will be punished with jail up to 3 months or fine up to Rs 10,000 or both. Anyone making a false statement can be punished with up to 3 months in jail and up to Rs 25,000 fine or both. A partner who fails to submit a statement after being given a 30-day notice by the registrar can invite up to 6 months in jail or up to Rs 25,000 fine or both,” the UCC says.
On succession issues, Uttarakhand UCC makes landmark changes to favour women. Singh said: “A general rule in the Muslim inheritance law is that daughters get half the share of sons although women get share from multiple sources. From today onwards, Muslim women and men will have equal rights instead of differential treatment. Likewise, under the traditional Hindu law, coparcenary rights were in existence. This meant that in the ancestral property, a newborn male child had rights from the date of birth and girls did not have coparcenary rights. By the 2005 amendment, coparcenary rights were diluted and girls were also given equal rights. However, there was no explicit mention of extinction of coparcenary rights in the 2005 amendment. “Under the Uttarakhand UCC, coparcenary rights will get abolished and property rights will accrue only when the person dies. The share of legal heirs will then be decided in accordance with the scheme devised under the UCC, which will guarantee equality.” The code prescribes 18 and 21 years as the legal marriageable age for girls and boys across faiths which means the Muslim Sharia provision under which girls can be married anytime between adolescence and adulthood after they attain puberty won’t apply.
“A person can execute a will digitally on the UCC portal; can scan a written copy and upload it; can even record a video up to 3 minutes. Changes can also be made online,” said Singh. He added that the portal had been integrated with existing portals . “It has been integrated with UIDAI for Aadhaar linkage; Registrar General for birth and death data; and adoption agency CARA,” he said.
