Registration Must For Live-Ins, Deserted Woman Eligible For Maintenance | Uttarakhand's UCC

Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami on Tuesday tabled the Uniform Civil Code (UCC), which proposes uniform marriage, divorce, land, property and inheritance laws for all citizens irrespective of their religion.

The proposed UCC of Uttarakhand also allows a woman who has been deserted in a live-in relationship to approach the court and claim maintenance.

The UCC draft of Uttarakhand has a couple of proposals, including a jail of up to three months and fine of Rs 10,000 to individuals staying in a live-in relationship without submitting a statement.

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According to the proposed UCC in Uttarakhand, live-in partners withhold information or give a false statement in their undertaking, they can face jail of up to three months and a fine not exceeding Rs 25,000 or both.

Even a delay in registration, by as little as a month, will trigger a jail term of up to three months, a fine of Rs10,000, or both.

As per the proposed UCC, statements of live-in partners will be forwarded to the officer in charge of a local police station, which will be informed by the authorities if the details provided in the statement turn out to be incorrect.

As per the Uttarakhand UCC, a woman who has been deserted in a live-in relationship can approach the court and is entitled to claim maintenance.

A child in a live-in relationship will be declared the legitimate child of the couple under the UCC provisions.

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Exceptions for live-in relationships in Uttarakhand under proposed UCC

• A live-in relationship will not be officially recognised if the partners are in a 'prohibited relationship', which includes certain family connections that legally prevent them from marrying or having sexual relations.

These restrictions are based on degrees of consanguinity (blood relation) and, in some cases, affinity (relation by marriage).

• A live-in relationship will not be recognised if one of the individuals is married or is already in a live-in relationship.

• A live-in relationship will not be recognised when at least one of the individuals is a minor.

• A live-in relationship will not be recognised when the consent of one of the partners was obtained by force, coercion, undue influence, misrepresentation or fraud.

Terminating a live-in relationship

To end a live-in relationship, both the partners, or either of them, will have to submit a statement of termination to the Registrar within whose jurisdiction such residents ordinarily reside.

A partner who wants to end the live-in relationship will have to submit a copy of the termination statement to his/her partner.

Once the proposed Uniform Civil Code Bill becomes an act, Uttarakhand will become the first state in the country after Independence to adopt the UCC. It has been operational in Goa since the days of Portuguese rule.

The ongoing session of the state assembly was convened especially for the passage of the UCC bill.

Several BJP-ruled states in the country, including Gujarat and Assam, have expressed their keenness to follow the Uttarakhand UCC as a model.