Saturday, 03 February 2024 | PNS | DEHRADUN
Though the expert committee on UCC headed by justice (retd) Ranjana Prakash Desai submitted its report to CM Pushkar Singh Dhami on Friday and the government will table the bill on UCC in the Assembly on February 6, the contents of the expert committee report have not been made public. However it is learnt that the committee in its report has recommended sweeping changes in the personal laws relating to marriage, inheritance, divorce, multiple marriages, adoption and guardianship. The committee has learnt to recommend a complete ban on polygamy. The UCC draft would ensure that both husband and wife will have the same grounds for divorce proceedings. As of now husband and wife have different grounds for divorce under the personal laws. Similarly the registration of the marriage will be compulsory without which one will not be able to avail the benefit of any government facility. To make marriage registrations easy the government could make arrangements for registration at the village level.
Both girls and boys will get equal rights in inheritance laws under the UCC.
In an important recommendation the committee is learnt to have recommended that in case of death of an earning son, the compensation to his widow will have the condition that she will have the responsibility of taking care of the old parents of the deceased. The parents of the dead son will get a portion of compensation if his wife gets remarried.
The law on UCC is also likely to give the right to adoption to everyone. The Muslim women will also get the right for adoption under UCC. The process of adoption will also be made easy.
The UCC will also bring uniformity in the marriages in the country and Halala and Iddat practice in Muslims are likely to be banned. The UCC is also likely to give legal status and recognition to live-in relationships. The partners will have to submit a declaration for having such relationships. The process of guardianship is likely to be made easy in the case of orphan children. In another important measure the custody of the children can be given to their grandparents in the case of dispute between husband and wife.
The age of marriage of women which at present is 18 years is also likely to be raised.
