The Uttarakhand Assembly, during a special session on Wednesday, passed the Uniform Civil Code (UCC) Bill with a comfortable majority following a two-day discussion.
Uttarakhand Uniform Civil Code Bill: The Uttarakhand government has constituted a nine-member committee to prepare the draft rules for the Uniform Civil Code (UCC) bill which was passed in the state assembly earlier this week. ,
The committee will be chaired by retired IAS officer Shatrughan Singh, officials said.
On February 8, Wednesday, the Uttarakhand Assembly, during a special session, passed the UCC Bill with a comfortable majority following a two-day discussion making Uttarakhand the first state to clear the legislation.
The Bill, which was passed by voice vote, was introduced in the BJP-majority assembly on Tuesday and the opposition had suggested that it should be sent to a select committee of the House first.
Once the Bill gets the governor’s consent, Uttarakhand will become the first state after independence to get a common law on marriage, divorce, land, property and inheritance for all citizens, irrespective of their religion. The state, however, has put the Scheduled Tribes outside the purview of the code.
Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami who is projecting the code as a model draft for other states to adopt at their discretion.
‘Hindutva Iran’
The Bill has received flak from the opposition parties who have alleged that the legislation violates the basic tenets of the constitution such as Articles 25 and 29.
Slamming the UCC Bill, Congress leader Karti Chidambaram dubbed Uttarakhand as the “test lab for Hindutva Iran.”
“Uttarakhand is the test lab for Hindutva Iran,” Karti wrote on his X handle.
‘Enforcing Hindu Code on all’
All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) president Asaduddin Owaisi also registered his strong protest against UCC claiming that the Bill was nothing but a Hindu Code applicable for all.
“The Uttarakhand UCC Bill is nothing but a Hindu Code applicable for all. Firstly, hindu undivided family has not been touched. Why? If you want a uniform law for succession and inheritance, why are Hindus kept out of it? Can a law be uniform if it doesn’t apply to majority of your state?,” Owaisi wrote on X.
He added that bigamy, halala, live-in relationships have become the talking points…”but no one is asking why Hindu Undivided Family has been excluded”.
“Why have tribals been excluded? Can it be uniform if one community is exempt. Next, there is the question of fundamental rights,” Owaisi further said.
“I have a right to practice my religion and culture, this Bill forces me to follow a different religion and culture. In our religion, inheritance and marriage are part of religious practice, it is a violation of Articles 25 & 29 to force us to follow a different system,” he claimed.
The AIMIM chief noted that constitutionally, only the Parliament can enact the UCC. He also asserted that the UCC contradicts central laws like Shariah Act, Hindu Marriage Act, SMA, ISA, among others and cannot be enforced without presidential assent.
(With inputs from agencies)