Parents should be kept informed about live-in couples aged 18-21, says Uttarakhand’s UCC panel

DEHRADUN, July 12: A panel framing rules for Uttarakhand’s Uniform Civil Code is trying to ensure that data provided by live-in couples remains protected but feels that information about those aged between 18 and 21 should be given to their parents, the committee’s chief said on Friday.
The UCC, passed by the Uttarakhand Assembly in February, makes registration of live-in relationships and marriages mandatory.
On Friday, the report of an expert committee constituted to draft UCC under the chairmanship of Justice (retd) Ranjana Prakash Desai was uploaded on the website www.ucc.uk.gov.in.
The five-member panel headed by Desai was constituted on May 27, 2022. It received suggestions from 2.33 lakh people through 43 public dialogue programmes and various mediums. The committee submitted its report on February 2 this year.
Chairman of the UCC’s rules-making and implementation committee, Shatrughna Singh, who was also a part of the Justice (retd) Desai panel, said the report could not be made public earlier because 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, he said at a press conference here.Asked whether a mandatory provision of informing the parents about a live-in couple aged between 18 and 21 years would not be an assault on their privacy, Singh, who was formerly the chief secretary of Uttarakhand, said 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,” he said.
The Uniform Civil Code (UCC) Bill, passed by the Uttarakhand Assembly on February 7, became a law with President Droupadi Murmu giving her assent to it on March 11. Uttarakhand is the first state in the country after Independence to adopt such a law.
The Uniform Civil Code of Uttarakhand Act, 2024, is meant to govern and regulate the laws relating to marriage and divorce, succession, live-in relationships, inheritance and maintenance for all citizens irrespective of their religion, gender, caste, or sex. It leaves Scheduled Tribes out of its ambit.
It effectively bans polygamy and ‘halala’ practised among a section of Muslims. Marriages, though, can be solemnised through separate rituals, like saptapadi, nikah and anand karaj, followed by different communities. (PTI)