The Uttarakhand Cabinet approved the Uniform Civil Code (UCC) Bill and is all set to table it in Assembly on Monday. The draft Bill is expected to provide for a ban on Polygamy and impose a penalty of up to Rs 2500 or six months jail for not registering live-in relationship.
A five-member committee headed by former Supreme Court judge on Friday submitted a draft of the UCC Bill for the state of Uttarakhand to Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami.
The Uttarakhand Assembly on Monday will discuss the proposed Bill. Ahead of the release, there are many speculations around the provisions in the draft bill that is yet to be made public. CM Dhami on Friday said that his government has received the draft of UCC and will examine it and then implement it.
According to sources, the draft is likely to have detailed provisions for regulating live-in relationships, marriages and divorces. The said draft is likely to ban the practice of Halala and tighten the noose around live-in relationships by penalising non-registration.
While addressing concerns about the question of whether Schedule Tribe people's rights were violated in the submitted draft, Dhami stated that the draft has not yet been made public, so it is unknown whether this is the case.
" People elected this government on the promise that it would implement UCC in the state, and the government will review the draft before implementing it," the chief minister said.
Here's a brief overview of provisions in the draft Bill:
1) The UCC will bring in uniform rights for both men and women to file for divorce.
2) The code has fixed the age for boys at 21 years and girls at 18 years for marriage.
3) The law will ban and penalise activities like Halala. There is likely to be a penalty of 1 lakh and 3 years of imprisonment.
4) It will be mandatory to register marriages as well as divorces.
5) In case of separation and divorces, the mother will get custody of the child till five years of age.
6) Rights to parental property will be uniform across communities.
7) The law will make both daughters and sons equally entitled to the property of their parents.
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8) Children born out of wedlock will also enjoy equal rights to parental property. Even an unborn child in a mothers womb will have rights over the parent's property.
9) It will be mandatory to register live-in relationships on a web portal. After registration the couple will get a receipt and only on the basis of that receipt will they be able to rent a house.
10) The registrar will also inform the person's parents about the registration of live-in relationship. In case the couple fails to register the relationship, then they can get upto six months in prison and penalty of upto Rs 25,000.