Uttarakhand chief minister Pushkar Singh Dhami with retired Supreme Courtroom choose Ranjana Prakash Desai and others at Chief Sevak Sadan, in Dehradun. The state government-appointed five-member committee headed by Desai submitted the Uniform Civil Code draft to CM Dhami. PTI
Uttarakhand is one step nearer to a Uniform Civil Code (UCC) after the Pushkar Singh Dhami-led Cupboard accredited the ultimate draft of the laws and the invoice is slated to be introduced within the state Meeting on 6 February (Tuesday).
Forward of the massive day, Chief Minister Dhami stated, “Today in the Cabinet meeting, we passed the proposal to bring the legislation on the Uniform Civil Code in the upcoming Assembly session.” Apparently, CM Dhami additionally launched a music video on the Uniform Civil Code Invoice titled ‘Aa Raha Hai UCC’ (UCC is coming). The title music has been written and sung by Bhupendra Baseda and its tune consists by Rakesh Bhatt.
If the UCC is handed within the Meeting, the BJP-ruled Uttarakhand will grow to be the primary state within the nation after Independence to undertake it. A UCC has been operational in Goa for the reason that days of the Portuguese rule.
However what are the options of this UCC? What will we learn about it? And who’re the brains behind it?
Right here’s all we all know in regards to the proposed laws.
What’s within the UCC draft?
The ultimate draft of the UCC, submitted to Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami, is 740 pages lengthy and separated into 4 completely different volumes. Furthermore, it’s written in ‘full’ Hindi and doesn’t have a single phrase of ‘Urdu’ or every other language.
The prolonged UCC invoice has put its give attention to all sections of society, having round 400 sections. Nonetheless, sources who’ve entry to the invoice say that the tribal communities within the state, who make up 2.9 per cent of the inhabitants, may very well be exempted from the purview of the laws.
The UCC draft has made practices like iddat — a interval a girl should observe after the dying of her husband or after a divorce, throughout which she could not marry one other man — halala and triple talaq, that governs marriage and divorce in Muslim private regulation, as punishable offences. Moreover, the practices of polygamy and polyandry have additionally been banned. A report by The Hindu had a member of the draft staff saying that the invoice is to not ‘hurt’ any group however to make sure equal rights of ladies in marriages and property.
The UCC invoice additionally ensures equal rights in property for each little kids, no matter their class. It has been acknowledged that girls, regardless of their faith can have equal rights to their father’s property.
On the matter of marriage, the UCC recommends a set age of 18 and 21 for women and boys, lower throughout all communities. The draft has additionally beneficial for uniform use of the prevailing legal guidelines beneath the Juvenile Justice (Care and Safety of Kids) Act to make sure identical adoption legal guidelines for all communities.
The draft UCC has additionally proposed that live-in relationships are made authorized however guarantee obligatory registration of such {couples}.
Nonetheless, some have voiced their dissent on the matter of live-in relationships. Liaqat Ali, a Roorkee resident, instructed CNBCTV18: “The proposal for registration of live-in couples is wrong. The government should do away with this system fully. Why are they giving it legal backing?”
Who’s behind Uttarakhand’s UCC laws?
In Could 2022, the Dhami authorities appointed a five-member committee to work on the laws. Whereas the committee is headed by Justice (retired) Ranjana Prakash Desai, it additionally includes Justice (retired) Permod Kohli, agriculturalist and social employee Manu Gaur, 1983-batch IAS officer Shatrughan Singh and Dr Surekha Dangwal.
In line with stories, they took options from 2.3 lakh folks, equal to 10 per cent households in Uttarakhand and held 72 conferences to debate and finalise what factors would go into the UCC draft.
समय की मांग है समान नागरिक संहिता कानून और हम इसे लागू करने की दिशा में तेजी से आगे बढ़ रहे हैं। #UCCInUttarakhand pic.twitter.com/8Vue3au2HQ
— Pushkar Singh Dhami (@pushkardhami) February 4, 2024
It’s only after a lot deliberation and dialogue that the ultimate draft was made and despatched to the Cupboard late final week for its approval, earlier than being tabled within the Meeting.
Also read: The Uniform Civil Code: If not by 2024, then when?
Why was there a requirement for UCC in Uttarakhand?
The UCC envisages a typical regulation for marriage, divorce, land, property and inheritance legal guidelines for all residents regardless of their faith within the state. A requirement for this was first made by Pushkar Singh Dhami in February 2022 earlier than the state went to the polls. On the time, Dhami had stated that the UCC “will provide for the same laws governing marriage, divorce, property, and inheritance for all people, regardless of faith”.
And after returning to energy within the state, Dhami accorded prime precedence to the difficulty and asserting the structure of a committee to arrange the draft of the UCC on the first assembly of the state Cupboard.
Taking this ahead, in September, a portal was launched on the identical, asking for suggestions and options from folks. “We want everyone’s cooperation to draft the UCC. People of the state must log into our portal and share their suggestions, grievances and complaints with us,” retired Supreme Courtroom choose Ranjana Prakash Desai, who heads the committee, had then stated.
The committee additionally sought 4 extensions in 20 months so as to put together their ultimate UCC draft. And it was solely on Saturday (3 February) that the committee handed over the draft UCC report back to the chief minister. “Finally, this auspicious day has come. After Ram temple consecration, this promise has also been fulfilled. I also want to thank PM Modi. Finally, work has started on UCC for which the people of this country had been waiting for a long time”, Dhami stated after receiving the report.
It’s being reported that when the UCC is handed by the Uttarakhand Meeting, it would function a mannequin for different states to undertake. In line with an Indian Categorical report, the Invoice will instantly go to the Gujarat and Assam Assemblies for them to undertake their very own payments. Sources within the Assam authorities stated the State would undertake “more or less the same Bill”.
With inputs from businesses