Uttarakhand gets a Uniform Civil Law

The Uttarakhand assembly on Wednesday passed the Uniform Civil Code Bill, 2024, by voice vote. With the passage of this bill, the Himalayan state is all set to become a model for other states willing to implement UCC.

The bill was tabled in the assembly on Wednesday and the main Opposition Congress demanded that it should be referred to the select committee before it was passed. The discussion on UCC resumed in the House on Thursday and subsequently, the bill was passed.

After getting the governor's consent, the law will come into force by notification in the gazette. Once the bill gets the governor's consent, Uttarakhand will be the first state in the country to implement UCC post-independence. UCC aims to "govern and regulate laws relating to marriage and divorce, succession, live-in relationships, and matters related thereto".


Registration of every marriage will be mandatory in the state. UCC also protects the rights of children and women. It also has provisions to bring partners, who are in a live-in relationship, within its purview.

Opposition leaders wanted the ruling BJP to give some time to examine the bill and thus, they demanded that the bill be referred to the select committee of the House.

CM Pushkar Singh Dhami said: "The Uniform Civil Code Bill is just a small contribution offered by our state in the great 'yagya' being done by the PM Narendra Modi to make the country a developed, organised, harmonious and self-reliant nation." He added that this bill seeks to bring uniformity in all laws related to personal civil matters that discriminate on the basis of caste, religion, region and gender under the Uniform Civil Code.

Dhami said UCC will ensure safety of children born outside marriage, in live-in relationship, or adopted or have been born artificially - they will be treated equally and will get equal rights to parental properties.

The implementation of UCC was a poll promise made by Dhami in the last leg of the 2022 assembly election campaign. After returning to power, the Dhami government soon constituted a five-member committee, headed by justice Ranjana Desai (retd), to prepare a draft report.