UCC in Uttarakhand: What is Uniform Civil Code? Meaning, Full Form, and implications

Uttarakhand became the first state in India to implement the Uniform Civil Code (UCC), fulfilling a key promise made by the ruling BJP ahead of the 2022 Assembly elections. Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami officially launched the UCC by unveiling its notification, releasing the rules for its implementation, and introducing a portal for the mandatory online registration of marriages, divorces, and live-in relationships.

The event, held at Dhami's official residence "Mukhya Sevak Sadan," was attended by his ministerial colleagues and senior officials.

"The UCC, creating equal laws for every citizen across all religions, comes fully into effect at this moment. The credit for it goes entirely to the people of the state," Dhami said during the ceremony.

Implementing the law was a major commitment of the BJP in the run-up to the 2022 assembly polls, which saw the party storm to power for a second consecutive term. No other party in the state has retained power since its creation in 2000.

Dhami had even attributed the historic mandate to the party's commitment to passing the UCC.

Uttarakhand UCC nothing but kickstarting a pilot project: Congress

When asked about the implementation of UCC in Uttarakhand on Monday, Congress spokesperson Abhishek Singhvi told PTI, "This is nothing but an attempt to fast-track the process, to have a pilot project, before you can impose... because you don't have a consensus. So you do it like kickstarting a pilot project."

Uttarakhand's Uniform Civil Code: What You Need to Know

• The UCC applies to all residents of Uttarakhand, except Scheduled Tribes and protected authority-empowered persons and communities.
• The Uniform Civil Code Act of Uttarakhand will govern and regulate the laws relating to marriage and divorce, succession, live-in relationships and related matters.
• It sets equal marriageable age for men and women, grounds of divorce and procedures across all religions, and bans polygamy and 'halala'.
• Under this, marriage can be solemnised only between those parties; none of whom has a living spouse, both are mentally capable of giving legal permission, the man should have completed at least 21 years of age and the woman 18 years of age. They should not be in the ambit of prohibited relationships.
• Marriage rituals can be performed under religious customs or legal provisions. Still, it is mandatory to register marriages taking place after implementing the Act within 60 days.
• The UCC requires registration of all marriages and live-in relationships. Facilities have been created to help people register their marriages online so they do not have to run around government offices.
• An official government statement said marriages solemnised before March 26, 2010, or outside the state of Uttarakhand, where both parties have been living together since then and fulfil all the legal eligibility criteria, can (although it is not mandatory) be registered within six months of the Act coming into force.
• Any soldier or air force personnel engaged in an expedition, actual warfare, or a mariner at sea can make a privileged will for which rules have been kept flexible.
• The Uttarakhand government will implement the Uttarakhand Uniform Civil Code Act, 2024, establishing a streamlined framework for creating and cancelling wills and supplementary documents, known as codicils, under testamentary succession.

Several BJP-ruled states, including Assam, have already expressed their desire to adopt Uttarakhand's UCC as a model.

-With inputs from ANI, PTI