INTRODUCTION
Universal Declaration of Human Rights declare that the men and women of full age, without any limitation due to race, nationality or religion, have right to marry and to find a family. They are entitled to equal rights to marriage, during and its dissolution. And marriage shall be entered into only with the free and full consent of the intending spouses. The family is the natural and fundamental group unit of society and is entitled to protection by society and the state1. Similarly, Article 253 of the Constitution of India read with entries 10 and 14 of list 1 of the seventh schedule empowers the parliament to enact a law to give effect to the said declaration, 1948. It may be relevant in view of the provisions contained in Article 51 (c) of the Constitution which provides that “The State shall endeavor to foster respect for international law and treaty obligations in the dealings of organized people with one another2”. In India, all of the laws are applied the same. There are already a lot of uniform laws existing in India, whose biggest example is Constitution of India. Besides this, IPC now BNS, Land Laws, Consumer Law, TP Act, Contract Act and CPC, there are many laws. This uniformity’s single exception is Personal Laws, which varies from religion to religion.
The Category of Personal Law may have evolved in Colonial India, but post-independence this category strengthened, reconstituted and reinforced. One of the foremost social legislations that were introduced in Independent India was in fact, the amendments to Hindu Law. These amendments generated enormous protests in many parts of India and most notable and vociferous opposition came from the Hindu Mahasabha3. Currently, in India there are Hindu, Muslim, Christian, Sikh and Parsi, all of them have different Personal Laws, which causes a lot of problems. Article 44, Uniform Civil Code is such a law for all of them takes about bringing Uniform Personal Laws. Uniform Civil Code is based on the ideology of one nation, one law, post implication of which similar law shall be regulated for communities across different religions in the country. Therefore, in the matters of marriage, divorce, adoption and succession one law will be produced before the country.
Before the advent of Muslims in India, the term ‘Hindu’ had no creedal connotation. Then it had a territorial significance, probably it also denoted nationality4. It seems that the word ‘Hindu’ came into vague with the advent of Greeks who called the inhabitants of the Indus Valley as Indoc and later on his designation was extended to include all persons who lived beyond the Indus Valley. Today, the term ‘Hindu’ has no territorial significance, nor is it a designation of nationality5. In our country like as where there are approximately 110 Cr. Hindu, 20 Cr. Muslims, 3 Cr. Sikh and 4 Cr. Christian. In such case, would it be so easy to bring a Uniform Personal Law. Actually, this statement is not entirely true, Because even at the time of the independence, Hindus were in the majority. To codify is to consolidate into a code6. And in 1955 Hindu Personal Laws, uniform codification was done. Codification is a process of consolidating the law of a country in any particular subject or any portion of it into a code, whether that law consists of statutes or case laws or customs or all the three7.
According to the Constitution, India is a secular state. It is therefore, expected that there should be one common set of secular civil law governing all India citizens, irrespective of religion, caste or creed. As provided in Article 44 of the Constitution, “The state shall endeavor to secure for the citizens a Uniform Civil Code throughout the territory of India”. It is, however discouraging to note that in the centre even through various parties have come to power, none of them has ever made any effort in this direction8. Like for Example, BJP in their election manifesto spoke about Uniform Civil Code many times. BJP has also won the election but did they take this election win as a consent to implement Uniform Civil Code on national level. This position is quite against the unity of India and therefore, concrete steps should be taken towards the achievement of a Uniform Civil Code in India.
Now the question is ‘How did Article 44 came in the Indian Constitution?’. When the drafting committee was set up a plan was made to bring in the Uniform Civil Code and a lot of debate was done on it. The draft has Uniform Civil Code in Article 35. During the discussion, one member asked to add a proviso in this Article 35, which says that on any group, section or community will have any obligation to give up their personal law. Some member said that Uniform Civil Code should be a part of fundamental rights and some opposed it. And finally, with a majority it was decided that Uniform Civil Code will be kept under part IV of Directive Principle of State Policy. And when the constitution was enacted then Uniform Civil Code was covered under Article 44 of the Indian Constitution. As observed by Kasi Prasad Saxena in his book9, laws in India are either of universal application or they apply only to certain communities. However, according to some authors, it is also not proper. In fact, this law applies to people following a particular religion, it is a group of religious laws and does not apply on the bases on citizenship or domicile or habitation in a particular country. In India, there are two prominent communities – Hindus and Muslims. Hindu Law applies to Hindus and Muslim Law applies to Muslims. Dr. Asghar Ali Faizi in his lecture10 , said that the name given to this law,i.e., “Mohammenden Law”, is not proper, it should be “Muslim Law”. Thus, these are the Personal Laws.
UNIFORM CIVIL CODE AND SECULARISM
Apart from Personal Laws of the various communities, Indian legislature has enacted some secular laws as well, i.e., laws that apply to all irrespective of caste, creed or religion11. Now the question is that “Who is supreme Personal Law or Constitutional Law, And can the court interfere in Personal Laws?”. From the beginning of Indian Legal history, there is a very important case, State of Bombay v/s Narasu Appa Mali12. In this case, a man was punished for bigamy which means to get married twice. Under this law convict, he said that “This punishment and law is against my religion because I did not have a son from my first wife and according to my religion if my son doesn’t do my last rites, I won’t get salvation and Hindu religion at that time used to say that if you are not getting a son from your first wife then you do a second marriage”. The Court rejected all the arguments , declared the act valid and punished the person for bigamy u/sec. 494 of IPC now u/sec. 82 BNS. In early Hindu Law a husband could have more than one wife. However, this liberty was not allowed to a wife. The Hindu Marriage Act, however abolished polygamy. According to Hindu Marriage Act, neither party to marriage should have a spouse living at the time of marriage [Section 5 (i) read with Section 11]. Bigamous marriage are void13 and also punishable under Section 494 and 495, Penal Code 1860(IPC)14.
In Ramesh Chandra Ramprajapati Daga v/s Rameshwari Ramesh Chandra Daga15, the issue was about dissolution of marriage and the court decided that a Hindu Marriage can be dissolved only in accordance with the provisions of the act by obtaining a decree of divorce from the court. In the absence of any decree of dissolution of marriage from the court, it has to be held that in law, the first marriage of the wife subsisted when she went through the second marriage with the present husband and therefore the marriage is void. In otherside, the most landmark case is Moh. Ahmed Khan v/s Shah Bano Begum16, in this case after 40 years of marriage and after 5 children, she gave divorce to her husband. After divorce, Shah Bano also claimed maintenance u/sec. 125 Cr.P.C. , but her husband filed an appeal against this maintenance. The five Judges bench of the Supreme Court clearly stated that even Muslim women are entitled to protection u/sec. 125 Cr.P.C. along with this, it also stated by commenting on Article 44 that if a Uniform Civil Code come then it will work for national integration will provide better solution in the time of conflicting ideologies. Such a progressive judgment, the government at that time overturned it, by passing the Muslim Women (Protection on Divorce Act), 1986. This act states that Muslim women cannot claim u/sec. 125 Cr.P.C. The Muslim women (Protection Rights on Divorce Act), 1986 however, overturned this judgment. The act although was subjected to much criticism, it also provided a number of compensatory schemes17, which in effect served to enhance judicial discretion in matters of Muslim Personal Laws.
The Law Commission of India in its 18th report 18acknowledged the international context of Islamic Laws for the first time. The report highlighted that reforms relating to Muslim Personal Law such as enforcement of monogamy by imposing restrictive conditions for polygamous arrangements had been carried out in various countries such as Morocco, Libya, Lebanon, Syria, Algeria, Tunisia and Pakistan. The practice however, contained to prevail in Iran, Indonesia, Saudi Arabia and India19. In the year 2023, when a public interest litigation was filed in front of the Supreme Court get the Uniform Civil Code passed then the court said that the court is wrong forum to enact the Uniform Civil Code, only the parliament can make a law on this. Recently, Prime Minister, Mr. Narendra Modi said that India also need a Uniform Civil Code. And always in the BJP election manifesto it has been promised to be implemented. Along with this, 21st Law Commission of India examined Uniform Civil Code in 2018 and also asked for views from stake holders. Then in the report the Law Commission called the Uniform Civil Code necessary nor desirable at this stage. This provision highlighted many practical difficulties. Like in Hindu Law where marriage is considered holy sacrament there in Muslim Law marriage is a contract. In Christian Law divorce is stigmatized and in Parsi Laws, registration of marriage is very important ritual. It is very important to respect all these attitudes and one religion cannot be imposed on one another.20
JUDICIAL TRENDS REGARDING UNIFORM CIVIL CODE
The most notable of these judgments were the Mohd. Ahmed Khan v/s Shah 21Bano Begum22, Sarla Mudgal v/s UOI23 and the Jordan Diengdeh v/s S S Chopra24. The Court in Shah Bano observed: Article 44 of our Constitution has remained a dead letter. There is no evidence of any official activity for framing a common civil code for the country. A common civil code will help the causes of national integration by removing disparate loyalties to laws which have conflicting ideologies. It is the state which interested with the duty of securing a Uniform Civil Code for the citizens of the country and unquestionably, it has the legislative competence to do so. A beginning has to be made if the constitution is to have any meaning. In Sarla Mudgal v/s UOI25 and Lilly Thamas v/s UOI26, the court had that if a person married the Hindu marriage Act adopts Islam, he’s not freed from the rule of monogamy as laid-down under the Hindu Marriage Act.
In State of Bombay v/s Naraso Appa Maali27, the Bombay legislature had passed a law The Bombay Prevention of Hindu Bigamous Marriage Act, 1946. The law was challenged on the ground that Muslim had been excluded and therefore, it amounted to violation of Article 15 apart from violating the right to practice religion of Hindu men under Article 25. The Bombay High Court held that the institution of marriage for Muslims and Hindus is different and since this legislation is a social reform, the differentiation between the two, would not amount to discrimination. The court also held that “Personal Law” would be exempt from the application of fundamental rights as it did not amount to legislative or state discrimination. The state has the power of the whole universe that they can remove any social injustice. As Hindu Code Bill was brought them state by using all of its powers removed all the problematic parts. So, then to modify the Muslim Law, why Uniform Civil Code is so specially hidden. If we even think of bringing Uniform Civil Code then also desired result can be achieved. An alternate method can be, that the state should filter all the Personal Laws and all those practices that are discriminatory and derogatory, which are against social justice should be declared unconstitutional. With the arrival of Uniform Civil Code or by Supreme Court interference in Personal Laws there is no danger. It is very important that Constitution is supreme and Personal Law has to changed according to the Constitution. If we try to change the Constitution according to every Personal Law then no Constitution will be left, and it is also very important that in which manner a law is being introduced.
In recent time then the most important case is Shayra Bano and others v/s Union of India and others28, which is also called ‘Triple Talaq Case’. In this case, Shayra Bano’s husband pronounced triple talaq and divorced her. Against which Shayra Bano filed a writ petition in the Supreme Court and challenged three practices of the Muslim Law. Nikah-Halala, Polygamy and Talaq-a-biddat, saying that three practices they are derogatory and discriminatory. Against which All India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB) said that because Personal Law is not codified, it should get the protection under Article 25 of the Indian Constitution. In this case, Supreme Court with the majority declared talaq-a-biddat or triple talaq as unconstitutional because it is not an essential religious practice, besides this they said that if the nikah-halala and polygamy also have to be declared unconstitutional then, the Parliament has the correct authority. However, the Muslim women ( Protection of Rights on marriage) Act 2019, was passed on 28 December, 2018 by the Lok Sabha. But was stalled by the opposition in the Rajya Sabha. The bill was reintroduced and passed by Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha in July 2019. Consequently, the bill received the assent of the President of India. The acts stands to be retrospectively effective from 19 September, 2018. The bill makes instand triple talaq ( talaq-a-biddat) in any form – spoken, in writing or by electronic means such as e-mail, sms and whatsapp – illegal and void, with upto three years imprisonment for the husband pronouncing triple talaq.
OVERVIEW ON UNIFORM CIVIL CODE, UTTARAKHAND, 2025
Under Article 246 of the Indian Constitution (7th Schedule) comprise centre ,state, concurrent lists and covering the entry 5 of concurrent list Uttarakhand state had enacted Uniform Civil Code.Prior to this Goa was the only state which followed a uniform civil code primarily due to the Portuguese occupation of Goa during 1867 and that time it was known as Portuguese Civil Code. Eventually, when Goa gained it’s independence from Portuguese rule in 1961 and became a part of India, the central government had transformed this and made it an integral part of the Goa, Daman and Diu Administrative Act 1962 u/sec 5(1). Thus, with the consent of Government of India UCC was implemented in 1962 in Goa29. Here, the provisions of UCC included implementation in all religions, equal share of the wife on husband’s property, parent’s to distribute property amongst their children with equal leverage given to each child and also an individual who isn’t legally divorced shall be prohibited from a second marriage.
UCC is followed by various countries across the world which includes America ,Ireland, Pakistan, Malaysia, Bangladesh, Indonesia, Turkey, Sudan and Egypt. Though, many Islamic countries impose sharia law and European countries impose secular laws. In Post-Independent India, Uttarakhand became the first state in the country to implement the UCC. The law minister of Gujarat had announced in the state legislative assembly in regard with the imposing of UCC. The way in which Uttarakhand had implemented UCC, it can be divided into four parts. Firstly, it includes marriage and divorce. Secondly, the matter of succession. Thirdly, the context of live-in relationships and lastly it included miscellenous or scheduled(rules).The basic objective of UCC is to regulate the civil life of citizens which comprises of marriage, divorce and succession matters so as to provide uniformity in the civil law. The point of contention here is that the entry 5 of concurrent list in the Indian constitution only talks about marriage, divorce and succession matters but the term of live-in relationships is missing. Uttarakhand is the first state that has formulate such a statute which not only defines live-in relationships but also recognizes it. The question here arises that, ‘Is live-in relationship same as the institution of marriage?’. Therefore, besides assessment of different parts of UCC the aspect of live-in relationships needs to be discussed as well.
Live-In Relationship
Under Hindu Marriage Act or Special Marriage Act the legal age of the bride should be 18 and that of the groom should be 21 whereas in live-in relationships the age of both partners has been fixed at 18 years30. But during the registration of live-in relationships if any one of the partner is aged below 21, in that case both their parent’s shall be informed. On one hand, by attaining the age of 18 partners are being given the permission for live-in relationship is being given while on the other hand during the registration process if any one of the partner’s is below 21 , their parents are being included in the matter by informing them31. In the case of marriage no such permission is required, in this way this seems to be a contradicting deliberation which seeks to distinctively differentiate between marriage and live-in relationships. A Uniform Age of consent between all citizens of marriage warrants a separate conversation from a discussion about prevention of child marriages for the simple reason that maintaining the difference of 18 years for girls and 21 years for boys simply contributes to the stereotype that wives must be younger than their husbands32.
Live-in relationships in Uttarakhand as per UCC can be defined in the following manner; A Man and A Woman living in a shared household, that shared household can be of any time, it can be owned by, both of them, either of them that means so are living in the nature of marriage. And this concept can also be visible in The Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act,2005 which implies that when a couple living a shared household in the nature of marriage, that will be a domestic relationship, which is basically aimed for the protection of women itself. In the institution of marriage, with respect to different religions and their own sacred ceremonial activities take place along with a grand social gathering due to which,all knowns are aware of the relationship but that is not the case with live-in relationships.
Procedure of registration in live-in relationships
Those partners who aspire to stay together in live-in relationships shall produce a statement/ application of live-in relationship to the Registrar within 30 days from the date of them residing together33. Registrar in the pretext of the following four grounds can also refuse the registration as well:
i. Where the partners are within the degrees of prohibited relationships provided that, the prohibitions will not apply to person(s) whose customs and usage permit the relationship, if it were marriage, and provided further that such customs and usage are not against the public policy and morality or ,
ii. Where atleast on of the persons is married or is already in a live-in relationship or,
iii. Where atleast one of the persons is minor or,
iv. Where the consent of one of the partners was obtained by force, coercion, undue influence, misrepresentation or fraud as to any material fact or circumstances concerning the other partner, including her/his identity.
Where any partner(s) to a live-in relationship has failed to submit the statement of such relationship , the registrar either of his/her own motion or on receipt of a complaint or information in this regard shall by notice require such partner(s) to submit a statement in a 34prescribed manner within thirty days from the date of receipt of such a notice35, that it has come to my knowledge that you are living in a live-in relationship thereby we are putting a notice to apply for the registration. Whoever stays in a live-in relationship for more than one month from the date of entering into such relationship without submitting the statement of such relationship under sub-section(1) of section 381 shall be punished on conviction by a judicial magistrate with imprisonment for a term which may extend to three months or with fine not exceeding ten thousand rupees or with both36. And any person who makes averment in the statement of live-in relationship submitted under sub-section(1) of section 381 which is false and which she/he knows or has reason to believe to be false or withholds any material fact there from affecting the decision of the registrar whether to register such live-in relationship or refuse to do so, shall be punishable with imprisonment for a term which may extend to three months or with fine not exceeding twenty-five thousand rupees or with both. And any partner to a live-in relationship who fails to submit the statement of live-in relationship on being required by notice to do so under section 386 shall be punished on conviction by a judicial magistrate with imprisonment for a term which may extend to six months or with fine not exceeding twenty-five thousand rupees or with both.
Submission of Statement of termination of Live-in Relationship
Both partners to a live-in relationship or either of them may terminate it had submitted to a statement of termination in the prescribed format and in the prescribed manner to the registrar within whole jurisdiction such resident(s) ordinarily resides, and provide a copy of such statement to the other partner in case only one of the partners terminates the live-in relationship37. Once a statement of termination of live-in relationship is received, the registrar shall-
(i) Conduct a summary inquiry to check the veracity of information provided by the live-in partner(s) in compliance of sub-rule(1) and (3) of rule 16 and clause (b), (d), (e) of rule 6 (5).
(ii) Necessarily speak with the woman live-in partner to find out whether-
(a) She is pregnant,
(b) Child/Children was/were born of the live-in relationship and if so, the detail of such child/children.
(c) Child/Children was/were adopted with the concurrence of both live-in relationship partners38.
Action to be taken on receipt of statement of termination of live-in relationship
On receipt of a statement of termination of a live-in relationship jointly by the partners in pursuance of the provision contained in section 384 of the UCC, the registrar within 15 days of the receipt of the statement, issue a certificate of the termination of live-in relationship to both the partners. In case only one of the live-in relationship, the registrar shall inform the other partner about the receipt of such a statement and thereafter, within 15 days of the receipt of the statement, issue a certificate of termination of live-in relationship to both the partners39.
In reference to this we can say that entering and leaving both in a live-in relationships is easy whereas in marriage is a social institution in which rituals, customs, traditions are thoroughly followed. This seems like that whether or not we are devising an equivalent relationship on the same platform as that of marriage through UCC. Thus, review of such a profound act becomes necessary.
Supreme court in the case of Radhika Singh Vs Loli stated that a couple living together without marriage shall be considered equivalent to married couples only and the children born out of such a relationship shall be considered as legal heirs to their ancestral property. The facts of this case were as such that Radhika Singh resided along with Loli for 30 years as couple and this relationship gave them five children but in the context of succession of property Radhika Singh’s brother presented the deliberation in court that Loli and her children have no legal right on the ancestral property of Radhika Singh as the couple was not legally married. As far as the question arises on the validity and succession of children born out of such relationships the legal position on this subject is clear that under Hindu Marriage Act, amended section 16 (w.e.f. 27/5/1976) recognizes, children born of marriages which are null and void u/sec. 11 or voidable u/sec.12 as legitimate. However, section 16 (3) states that such children will not have rights in or to the property of any person other than the parents, which they would have been incapable of possessing but for the passing of the act.
In Jinia Keotin and others v/s Kumar Sitaram Manjhi and others40, Supreme Court observed that as per section 16 (3) of HMA, the deemed legitimate children will have property 41 right only in the self-acquired property of the parents. This view was followed in several other 42cases, until the Supreme Court interpreted the section differently in Revanisidappa & others v/s Mallikarijuna & others43, where in the court held that if a child is deemed to be legitimate, his/her right cannot be restricted to inherit only self-acquired property of the parents but he/she is also entitled to ancestral property.
It further opened that the legislature used the term ‘Property’, without specifying it to be ancestral or self-acquired. Considering the fact that a restrictive interpretation of the word ‘Property’ under section 16 (3) would be counter productive to the benevolent intent of the amending act, the court held that it should include ancestral property within the ambit. Though, the court dissented from its judgment in Bharatha Matha & others v/s Vijaya Rangnathan & others44, it deemed it appropriate to refer the matter to a larger bench. It may be noted that though the court was of the view that, illegitimate children will be entitled to all the rights which are afforded to children born in valid marriage, such a view cannot be said to apply to children born of live-in relationship for certain reasons.
Pragmatically, after implication of UCC in Uttarkhand it may become easier for those who may not be able to get married due to certain reasons but the other side of the coin states that, in Hindu Religion marriage is a pious and sacramental relationship which includes many obligations, duties and rights. The objective and circumstances relating to a marriage are different, social requirements are also followed and ending a marriage is not that easy. While on the other hand entering and leaving a live-in relationship is much simpler like if a partner takes his/her registration certificate of such relationship and next day terminates it which shall be obligatory for the registrar to do so within 15 days. All these deliberations state that if live-in relationships had to be included in UCC so is it not a matter which needed to be seriously debated and discussed in the parliament.
In Muslim Law, where the paternity of a children is under doubt acknowledgement of the father confers legitimacy on the child (iqrar). In this system, legitimacy and legitimization have to be distinguished45. While, legitimacy is a status that results from certain facts, legitimization is a proceeding which creates a status which did not exist before46. Where a person has been proved to illegitimate, no statement made by another man that he’s his child can confer legitimacy on the person, however in the absence of such proof, the statement and acknowledgement is enough substantive evidence that the person so acknowledged is a legitimate child of the man47. If a women gives birth to an illegitimate child, not only would the child be excluded from inheritance but also the women would be punishable for zina (illicit intercourse)48. An illegitimate child under Hanafi Law, cannot inherit from father but they may inherit from mother. In Bafatun v/s Bilaiti Kanum49, the court that where a women under Hanafi Law died leaving behind a husband and an illegitimate son of her sister, the husband could take half the property and the other half went to the illegitimate son. In Islam, it should be made sure that live-in relationship should not be recognized however, an illegitimate child is allowed to claim maintenance and is entitled to inherit from his/her mother.
Succession
Part 2 of Uniform Civil Code talks about succession which is also the largest part of this code. Post the implication of UCC in Uttarakhand the classification of estate has been abrogated which means that no matter the property is ancestral or self acquired it has become one type of estate. Also, this code surpasses Hindu Succession Act or personal laws of other religions stating that only UCC shall be applicable on everyone irrespective of their religious identity. In the case of live-in relationships if the male partner passes away , the female partner shall not be categorized as his widow but the question here arises whether or not she will come under class-I successor which is a debatable topic. In the present scenario while viewing UCC it can be said that she has no right as the successor though future court findings and amendments may provide a more clear picture on this issue.
The term ‘Inheritance’ has been defined in Black’s Law Dictionary as, “a property received from an ancestor under the law of intestacy, and property that a person receives from bequest or devise50”. The Dictionary, further defines ‘succession’ as “the acquisation of rights or property by inheritance under the law of descent and distribution51”. A perusal of the above definition indicates that ‘inheritance’ is associated with the act of receiving property, while ‘succession’ is related to acquiring rights or title in the property received by way of inheritance. Inheritance may be termed as a means to an end, that end being succession. Sir William Blackstone maintains the distinction between inheritance and succession by dealing with the latter in the contexts of corporation sole, corporation aggregate, property acquired upon marriage and property acquired by way of suit or judgment. He deals with inheritance in the context of freehold estates and later in that of coparcenary property52.
Scheduled Tribes
Scheduled tribes in Uttarakhand comprise of Bhotiya, Tharu, Jaunsari, Rajji and Boxa but they have been exempted from the UCC53.The contradiction emerges here is that if one partner is from Scheduled Tribes (ST) and other partner is from a Non-Scheduled Tribe and they are entering a live-in relationship so how does UCC shall apply in such a condition. As there is no such clause included in UCC that if any one of the partner is from a Scheduled Tribe then the code shall not apply on them which may be interpreted that uniformity has not been achieved. However, the codified Hindu Law lays down that its provisions do not apply to the member of the schedules tribes (ST) coming within the meaning of clause 25 of article 366 read with article 342 of the Indian Constitution unless the Central Government by notification in the official gazette directs that any of the enactments shall apply to them also54. This clause does not mean that the ST which were, prior to the codified Hindu Law, governed by Hindu Law will not, now be governed by the Hindu Law, if before codification any ST was governed by Hindu Law, it will continue to be governed by it55. However, it will be uncodified Hindu Law that will be applied to them.
Resident of one year
Uniform Civil Code, Uttarakhand says that within 30 days of entering your relationship in the case of live-in relationship to have to register whether you are a resident of Uttarakhand or not56. Therefore if the partner is from other states then he/she can apply for registration before 1 year as well because out of many conditions for implication of UCC one of the condition is that UCC shall also apply even to those who are residing in Uttarakhand since one year57.
CONCLUSION
By Virtue of being ‘enacted as laws, Personal Law cannot be codified in way that contradicts the Constitution. For instance, codification of discriminatory custom regardless of how commonly acceptable they may be, can lead to crystallization of prejudices or stereotypes. At the some time, the very act of codifying ‘separate’ Personal laws could itself be challenged as a exercise against Article 14 of Constitution. Therefore, it is urged that the legislature should first, consider guaranteeing equality ‘within communities’ between men and women, rather than equality between communities58. It is suggested that in state of bringing Uniform Civil Code we can remove the problems in existing Personal Laws and make them gender just. As it is quite important to understand that in which manner a law is being introduced as we have already seen in the time of Farmer’s Agitation, CAA and many other laws. However, soon after Naraso Appa Maali, the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955 abolished bigamy among Hindus. Six different legislations were passed by the Parliament between the years 1954 and 1956, which codified Hindu Family Law and also the Special Marriage Act, 1954 to govern cross community marriages. Polygamy was banned and divorce was introduced and women’s right to inherit property was also supported. The significant achievement of codification of Family Law was that despite the imperfect nature of the legislation59, once return in the form of statutes the Hindu law acts served to open up new public discussions and debates in various aspects of religion and the ways in which these could be contradicted or reconciled with constitutional provisions and in particular with fundamental rights.
Section 16 of the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955 comes into play only to legitimize children born of void and voidable marriages. It may be noted that children born in live –in- relationships which are in the nature of marriage i.e., long term cohabitation of partners, are deemed to be legitimate60, and would thus, attract the legal fiction of section 16(3). On the other hand, children born of live-in-relationship of a transient nature i.e., of a short duration, which would not entail the presumption of marriage u/sec.114 of the Indian Evidence Act, 1872 would be outside the purview of section 16 as such a relationship cannot be categorized as either void or voidable marriage and in the absence of a law on this point would continue to be bastardized so, it appears that either ways the legal fiction created by section 16 of Hindu Marriage Act,1955 would not apply to children born in live-in-relationship. Therefore, it is recommended that the parliament should enact a law to address the issue of legitimization of children born of live-in-relationship that fails to reach the threshold of a deemed marriage. Further, such children should be entitled to inherit the self acquired property of their parents. However, Uniform Civil Code , Uttarakhand 2025 says that any child who born in a live-in relationship shall be a legitimate child of the partners61.
Since triple talaq is already outlawed, pronouncing of triple talaq in one sitting has no effect on marriage. In case of divorce given by talaq-e-ehsan made, or a mubaraat , or khula reconciliation should be available to spouses. A number of Nikah-Namas62 have been floated from time to time and many of these provide a blueprint of what a module Nikah-Nama could look like a document, women living under Muslim Laws, was an effort to provide comparative law on how Muslim women’s rights have evolved in Islamic Countries. These contain discussions on not only on module Nikah-Namas but also explanations about how a contractual nature of marriage recognized under Muslim Personal Law could in fact be beneficial for women if the terms of the contract are genuinely negotiated and agreed on by both parties. The Nikah-Nama discussed by Zeenat Shaukat Ali in her book, Marriage and Divorce in Islam63, can be considered along with Nikah-Namas recommended by the All India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB) and by various other organizations. The Nikah-Nama itself can be broadened to constitute the Muslim Marriage Act and the Dissolution of Muslim Marriage Act, 1939 can be amended to include suggestions made in the first section which are common for all marriage laws respect to grounds for divorce, community of property and the act will apply to both men and women. Thereafter, the culmination of all the above facts are the testimony that though the government and policy makers are making an effort to introduce uniformity and equality which just adds up to the positive democratization of the country. But what needs to be ensured is prior deep discussions as there have been some loopholes in the code for which the Uttarakhand government held a session at Gairsain (Bhararisain) in August 2025 proposing few amendments which hopefully will fill up the gaps that are being seen in the code and are criticised by scholars.
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Footnotes
1. Article 16 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, 1948.
2. Article 51 (c) of the Indian Constitution.
3. Hindu Mahasabha Publication, the Hindu outlook from 1941-1956, managing editor Indra Prakash Editor VG DeskPandey: “Hindu Code Bill Disrupts Family System and stable society” 29 November 1948 Hindu ‘Distressed & Disappointed’ Mahasabha G.I. Secretary on P.M’s Speech 13 August, 1951.
4. See Radhakrishnan, Hindu view of Life, quoted by Gajendra Gadkar, J.(as he was them) in Shastri Yagenpurushadasji v/s Muldas, 1996 SC 1119.
5. Modern India is a country which abounds in Personal Laws: every Community is governed by its own Personal Law as modified by custom and legislation.
6. Preamble, Hindu Marriage Act, 25 of 1955.
7. P. Ramanatha Aiyer (ed), Concise Law Dictionary (3rd Edn. Wadhawa and Company , Nagpur 2005) 198-99.
8. See Family law, B.M Gandhi’s (P75) Vol- I, Ed-II, EBC.
9. An Analytical Study of the Origin & Growth of Muslim Law.
10. On “Importance of the Mohammedan Law in the Modern World” at Gujarat University on 25/11/1964 (Bhagwati Justice Preseding).
11. Family Law-BM Gandhi’s, Vol.I, Ed.II (2019), P. 72-73.
12. AIR 1952 SC 84 , (1951) SCC Online Bom. 72.
13. Ranjit Kumar Bhattacharya v/s Savita Bhattacharya, 1995 SCC Online Cal.401, AIR 1996 Cal. 301, Malhotra v/s UOI, (2005) 8 SCC 351.
14. Gopal Lal v/s State of Rajasthan (1979) 2 SCC 170, Voidness of marriage u/sec. 17 HMA is necessary condition for application of section 494 IPC.
15. (2005) 2 SCC 33.
16. AIR 1985, 2 SCC 556.
17. Flavia Agnes, 2012 ‘from Shah Bano to Kusar Bano: Contextualizing the Muslim women within a communalized polity’, South Asian Feminisms.P.33-53.
18. The Law Commission of India 18th report on ‘Covert’s Marries Dissolution Act, 1866(1961).
19. ibid.
22. AIR 1985 SC 945.
23. AIR 1995 SC 1531.
24. AIR 1985 SC 935.
25. (1995) 3 SCC 635
26. (2000) 6 SCC 224.
27. (1951) SCC Online Bom. 72.
28. AIR 2017, SC 4609.
29. Jansatta. com. delive (last seen on 4-9-2025).
30. Section 380 (3) of Uniform Civil Code, Uttarakhand (2025).
31. Section 385 (1) of UCC, Uttarakhand (2025).
32. Response submitted by Anup Barnwan and his group, ‘UCC’ to the Law Commission of India.
33. Section 381 of UCC, Uttarakhand (2025).
35. Section 386 of UCC, Uttarakhand (2025).
36. Section 387 of UCC, Uttarakhand (2025).
37. Section 384 of UCC, Uttarakhand (2025).
38. Rule 4 ( c) of UCC rules, Uttarakhand, 2025.
39. Rule 4 (e) of rules of UCC ,Uttarakhand, 2025.
40. (2003) 1 SCC 730, See also Neelamma & others v/s Sarojamma & others (2006) 9 SCC 612.
43. (2011) 11 SCC 1.
44. AIR 2010, SC 2685.
45. Fyzee, at 189.
46. ibid.
47. Sadik Hussain v/s Hashim Ali (1916) 43 I.A 212, 234.
48. Fyzee at 191.
49. (1903) 30 Cal. 683.
50. Black Law’s Dictionary, VIII edition, 2004.
51. ibid.
52. Wilfrid Prest (edition), William Blackstone ; Commentries on the law of England book II on the right of things (Oxford University Press, Oxford Ist edition, 2006).
53. Section 2 of UCC, Uttarakhand, 2025.
54. Section 2 (2) Hindu Marriage Act, 1955; in Dasarth v/s Guru Bewa 1972 Ori. 78, it was held ‘that Bathudis are members of Scheduled Tribes and codified Hindu Law does not apply to them. See also Kannan v/s Jitan 1973 Pat. 206(Tribal Custom of Succession of Ghar-Jamai).
55. Gopal Singh v/s Giribala, 1991 Ker. 175.
56. Section 378 of UCC, Uttarkhand, 2025.
57. Section 3 (1) (N) (IV) of UCC, Uttarakhand 2025.
58. See menan, Nividita-state, community and the debate on Uniform Civil Code in India, 2000
59. Agnes Flavia “Hindu Men, monogamy and Uniform Civil Code” Economic and Political weekly (1995) 3238-3244.
60. Balasubramanyan v/s Suruttayan, AIR 1992, SC 756
61. Section 379 of UCC Uttarakhand, 2025.
62. Civil Societies, such as Muslim women’s rights network, Majli, Awaaz-e-Niswaan, Bharataya Muslim Mahila Andolan and Bedaak Collective, working for the Muslim women’s rights, also – Advocate for the same.
63. Ali, Z.S. 1987, Marriage and Divorce in Islam: An Appraisal Bombay: Jaico Publishing House. See also –Vatuk, Sylvia Marriage and its Discontents: Women, Islam and the law in India, Women Unlimited an Associate of Kali for Women, 2017.