In a recent order, while hearing a petition moved by an inter-faith live-in couple seeking police protection from family members, the Uttarakhand High Court said that the couple must register under the Uniform Civil Code (UCC) within 48 hours.
A 26-year-old Hindu girl and her 21-year-old Muslim boy moved the high court seeking police protection. The couple alleged that they were being threatened by the girl's family.
The high court granted protection to inter-religious couples living in a live-in relationship, and directed them to register their relationship under the Uniform Civil Code, Uttarakhand, 2024, within 48 hours.
Under the newly implemented UCC in the state all persons in live-in relationships are now required to register before a Registrar within one month of entering into the relationship. Not registering under UCC as a live-in couple in the state of Uttarakhand can result in a jail sentence, fine, or both.
In one of the first such instances in the state after the UCC was implemented a bench of Justice Manoj Kumar Tiwari and Justice Pankaj Purohit directed the SHO to provide protection to the couple given that they register within 48 hours.
"...if petitioners apply for registration under the aforesaid Act within 48 hours, the SHO, PS Dalanwala, Dehradun shall provide adequate protection to petitioners for a period of six weeks to ensure that no harm is caused to them from the private respondents or any other person acting on their behest."
After taking note of the submissions made by the petitioners, the bench directed the SHO to provide adequate protection to the petitioners for six weeks, providing that the petitioners apply for registration under the aforesaid Act within 48 hours.
Under UCC, 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 living.