The chief of the expert committee, formed for framing rules for Uttarakhand Uniform Civil Code, stated on Friday that the panel was trying to ensure the data provided by live-in couples remains protected. However, it added that the parents of those aged between 18 and 21, should be apprised about their children's information as a safety precaution, news agency PTI reported.
UCC was passed by the Uttarakhand Assembly on February 7, which mandated the registration of live-in relationships and marriages.
The report of the expert committee, constituted to draft UCC under Justice (retd) Ranjana Prakash Desai's chairmanship, was uploaded on the website www.ucc.uk.gov.in on Friday.
The five-member panel was constituted on May 27, 2022 and received suggestions from around 2.33 lakh people via 43 public dialogue programmes and other mediums. The panel submitted its report this year on February 2.
Shatrughna Singh, chairman of the UCC's rules-making and implementation committee, who was also a part of the Justice (retd) Desai panel, stated that the report was not public earlier since the model code of conduct was in force.
"The panel framing rules for the implementation of UCC will ensure there is no breach of privacy of data provided by people at the time of registering their marriages and live-in relationships," Singh said at a press conference.
Responding to whether a mandatory provision about informing the parents about a live-in couple aged between 18 and 21 years would violate their privacy, Singh stated that it was "debatable".
"Data of live-in couples above 21 years of age will be totally protected. But, for couples aged between 18 and 21 years, the committee was of the view that the age (despite the fact that they have voting rights) is tender and so the parents should also be kept in the loop by way of precaution for the safety of the couple," PTI quoted Singh, who was formerly the chief secretary of Uttarakhand, as saying.
The UCC Bill was passed by the Uttarakhand Assembly on February 7. It became a law after President Droupadi Murmu gave her assent to it on March 11, making Uttarakhand the first state in India to adopt such a law.
The Uniform Civil Code of Uttarakhand Act, 2024, will govern and regulate the laws pertaining to marriage and divorce, live-in relationships, succession, inheritance and maintenance, for all citizens of the state, irrespective of their gender, caste, religion, or sex. However, it leaves Scheduled Tribes out of its ambit.
The act also bans polygamy and 'halala,' practised among a section of Muslims.
Panel Tyring Its Best To Ensure Timely Implementation Of UCC
Singh also said that the feedback received from the public during the drafting committee's field visits suggested that around eight to 10 per cent of respondents want the issue of population control to be covered under UCC's ambit.
"The panel also examined whether states had the jurisdiction of bringing the UCC and found there was no Constitutional hurdle in doing so," he said.
Commenting on Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami's recent remarks about UCC's implementation by October this year, Singh said that the committee has been trying its best to ensure that the law is implemented within that timeline.
"Apart from framing rules for the UCC, which has already become an Act, the entire system of its implementation is being computerised so that people do not have any inconvenience," Singh said.
"People can do registration of marriages and live-in relationships sitting at their homes without going anywhere," he added.