Uttarakhand UCC Bill demands registration of live-in relationships or ’face 3 to 6 months jail term’

The Uttarakhand government on Tuesday tabled the Uniform Civil Code (UCC) bill in a special session of state Assembly. The bill on UCC came as a government-appointed panel under the chairmanship of retired Supreme Court judge Ranjana Prakash Desai submitted a draft last week, which was cleared by the state cabinet. The UCC bill contains elaborate provisions on various issues, including live-in relationships.

Uttarakhand UCC Bill LIVE

In line with the various judgments of the judiciary, the Uttarakhand government has decided to get all the live-in relationships registered in the state. Moreover, the residents of Uttarakhand, who are living in a live-in relationship outside the state must submit a statement to the Registrar of the state.

“It shall be obligatory for partners to a live-in relationship within the State, whether they are residents of Uttarakhand or not, to submit a statement of live-in relationship under sub-section (1) of section 381 to the Registrar within whose jurisdiction they are so living,” Section 378 of the UCC bill said.

The bill said that children from the live-in relationships shall be a legitimate child of the couple.

Parental nod for those below 21 years

Uttarakhand UCC Bill proposes many safeguards for live-in couples and directs the Registrar to ensure that the live-in partners do not fall within the degree of prohibited relationships; at least one of the partners is not married or is not in another live-in relationship; where any of the partner is not minor and the consent for the live-in relationship is not obtained by force, coercion, undue influence, misrepresentation or fraud.

It also adds that in case any of the partners is under 21 years of age, the Registrar must inform his parents or guardian about the registration or termination of the live-in relationship.

Punishment in case of non-registration of live-in relationships

The UCC Bill proposes that in case the couple fails to register their live-in relationship within the stipulated time, which is one month from the date of entering into such relationship, they shall be liable to be punished on conviction by a Judicial Magistrate with imprisonment ranging from 3 to 6 months or fine up ₹25,000.

Maintenance

The Uttarakhand UCC Bill has also taken a step further to provide female live-in partners with the rights of marriage as it proposed that in case a woman in a live-in relationship is deserted by her partner, she shall be entitled to claim maintenance.

“If a woman gets deserted by her live-in partner, she shall be entitled to claim maintenance from her live-in partner for which she may approach the competent Court having jurisdiction over the place where they last cohabited, and in such a case the provisions contained in Chapter - 5, Part - 1 of this Code shall mutatis-mutandis apply,” the Section 388 of the Bill said.