Controversial aspect of registration requirements for live-in relationships within the newly implemented UCC.
The Uttarakhand Assembly passed the Uniform Civil Code on Wednesday, despite the Opposition’s demand that the Bill be handed over to the House’s select committee first.
Terming it a “historic moment”, Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami said the Assembly had become the first legislature in Independent India to pass a Bill that imposes common rules for all communities on marriage, divorce, inheritances, and live-in relationships.
This is except Scheduled Tribes.
In his final address before Speaker Ritu Khanduri Bhushan called for a voice vote on the UCC Bill.
Mr. Dhami said that the legislation would end the injustice faced by women for centuries.
Mentioning the Shah Bano and Saira Bano cases, the Chief Minister said that anti-social elements wanted to keep different communities divided for political benefits.
Referencing B.R. Ambedkar, Mr. Dhami claimed that certain clauses mentioned in the Constitution were misused from time to time by certain anti-social, anti-national people.
Certain mistakes were done in the Indian Constitution which now need to be corrected.
Listing other countries such as Saudi Arabia, Nepal, Japan, the United States, Canada, Bangladesh and Indonesia that have implemented a uniform civil code.
Its potential violation of individual freedom and rights established by the Constitution and previous judgments
Congress MLAs said they were not opposing the UCC Bill.
But claimed that its provisions need to be examined in detail so that any flaws can be removed before it is passed.
Tilak Raj Behar, the Congress MLA from Kichcha, said that Article 44 of the Constitution.
The Bill, refers to the UCC in the context of the whole country and not just one State.
Pointing out a contradiction in the Bill, Adesh Singh Chauhan, the Congress MLA from Jaspur, said the Bill leaves the tribal population out of its ambit, even while claiming that it would apply to the whole of the State.
The UCC is based on a draft submitted by a committee formed by the Uttarakhand government under the chairmanship of retired Supreme Court judge Justice Ranjana Prakash Desai.
The Bill was one of the BJP’s poll promises during the 2022 Assembly election campaign in Uttarakhand.
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