Web portal for live-in, marriage registrations likely as panel for implementing Uttarakhand UCC holds first meeting

Earlier this month, the Uniform Civil Code, Uttarakhand, Bill 2024, which seeks to “govern and regulate the laws related to marriage and divorce, successions, live-in relationships, and matters related thereto”, was passed in the Assembly following a two-day discussion. The Bill will now be sent to President Droupadi Murmu for her assent after which it will become law.

A source said that after the UCC is implemented, registration of marriage, divorce, live-in relationships, and succession can be done online. “The approval of the registration that is done online will be given once the Aadhaar number is verified. The process has been simplified,” said the source.

After the UCC Bill was passed, the state government had formed the Rules Making and Implementation Committee, headed by retired IAS officer and UCC draft committee member Shatrughan Singh. Other members of the draft committee, Surekha Dangwal and Manu Gaur, along with Uttarakhand Police ADG (Administration) Amit Sinha and Uttarakhand Resident Commissioner Ajay Mishra make up the committee.

While the Bill only defines the provisions and sections of the UCC, rules made by the committee will define in detail how those sections will be implemented.

Speaking to the media after the committee’s first meeting on Saturday, Shatrughan Singh said they wanted to make the working of the UCC user-friendly so that it does not become a burden on citizens.

He said that the work of making the rules of implementation is expected to be completed in the next three-four months.

“Today was the first meeting of the Rules Making & Implementation Committee of the UCC, and in this, we made a work plan on how to make the set of rules in the minimum possible time and implement them. There are three main points of the UCC, which are marriage and divorce, live-in relationships, and succession. We have to prepare rules for them as soon as possible. It is decided that a sub-committee will work on this daily. This sub-committee will include Manu Gaur, Amit Sinha, and some Additional Secretaries. We will also include a law expert in the sub-committee,” he said.

“The second aim is to make it user-friendly, with technological intervention. For that, we will look into the possibility of creating a mobile application or web portal for all kinds of registrations. A sub-committee is formed for that purpose. Information Technology Development Agency (ITDA) Uttarakhand will have a major role in that. Another sub-committee has been formed for the training purpose. We want to decentralise the registration process and take it to the local level. The employees there need to be well-trained. Surekha Dangwal and Ajay Mishra will be part of that. All three sub-committees will work in parallel,” he said.

While exempting tribal communities from its purview, Uttarakhand’s UCC Bill proposes a common law on marriage, divorce, inheritance of property, and live-in relationships for all citizens, irrespective of their religion. Coming just ahead of the Lok Sabha elections, it ticks off an important item on the BJP’s agenda.