Uniform Civil Code (UCC) in Uttarakhand gets the President's assent, becomes law | Current Affairs | Vision IAS
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Uniform Civil Code (UCC) in Uttarakhand gets the President's assent, becomes law

Posted 14 Mar 2024

Updated 27 Mar 2024

2 min read

  • Uttarakhand became the first state in the country after independence to adopt UCC.
    •  A common civil code has been in place in Goa since the Portuguese Civil Code was adopted in 1867.
  • UCC is set of laws that govern personal matters, including marriage, divorce, adoption, inheritance, and succession, for all citizens regardless of religion.
    • Article 44 of the constitution endeavors to secure UCC for citizens throughout Indian territory.

 

  • Key features of the act
    • Applicability: to all residents of Uttarakhand, except tribal communities.
    • Regulates live-in relationships: stipulates registration of live-in relationships.
    • Prohibits bigamy or marriages with more than one person.
    • Inheritance: It extends equal property rights for sons and daughters across all classes.

 

  • Need for UCC
    • Ensuring Equality: Presently, different communities are governed by different personal laws.
    • Gender Justice: It will promote gender justice by removing the inbuilt discriminatory provisions of personal laws.
    • National Integration: It will separate religion from social relations and personal laws, ensuring equality and thus harmony in society.
      • Also held by the Supreme Court in Mohd. Ahmed Khan v Shah Bano Begum (1985) case.

 

Challenges in the adoption of UCC

  • Plurality and diversity: Hugely diversified customary practices make it difficult to evolve consensus on UCC.
    • In 2018, the Law Commission of India opined that UCC is “neither necessary nor desirable at this stage” in the country.
  • Indian Secularism: which is based on diversity of religion and people.
  • Concerns of Minorities: Fear of loss of identity and marginalization. 
  • Contradictory provisions of the Constitution as constitution safeguard the local customs of many tribes.
  • Tags :
  • UCC
  • Article 44
  • Uniform Civil Code (UCC) in Uttarakhand
  • DPSP
  • Uniform Civil Code (UCC)
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