Refer Uttarakhand UCC bill to select committee of House: Opposition

Dehradun: The Uttarakhand Assembly on Wednesday resumed the discussion on the Uniform Civil Code bill with the opposition Congress members moving a proposal to refer the legislation to a select committee of the House.

The opposition legislators said they are not opposing the Uniform Civil Code (UCC) bill but its provisions need to be examined in detail so that its flaws can be removed before its passage.

Deputy Leader of Opposition in the Assembly Bhuvan Chandra Kapri said the provisions for registration of live-in relationships and informing parents of live-in partners under the age of 21 in the proposed bill is an infringement on the privacy of young adults.

He also said many of its provisions like mandatory registration of marriages, ban on child marriage and minimum marriageable age have been there and have nothing new about them.

The panel, which took 20 months to prepare the draft of the UCC, seems to have done only cut, copy and paste of laws which were already in existence, he said.

Laksar MLA Shahjad alleged that the UCC bill curtails the religious rights of Muslims. He also said equal inheritance rights to sons and daughters in parental property would lead to rise in female foeticide.

Chakrata MLA Pritam Singh questioned the applicability of the UCC's provisions.

"It says its provisions will apply to the people from Uttarakhand living outside the state but how in effect will it happen? The situation is strange," he said.

Talking about the provisions made in the bill about live-in relationships, he said even the Supreme Court had said the registration of live-in relationships is a "foolish idea".

However, Vikas Nagar MLA Munna Singh Chauhan aggressively defended the bill saying UCC is a commitment of the country's founding fathers.

He said,"It is a watershed moment in the life of a small state like Uttarakhand that it has taken the lead in stepping towards enacting a legislation which was envisioned by the Constitution makers." Earlier, restarting the debate in the House, Congress member from Kichcha, Tilak Raj Behar, said Article 44 of the Constitution which is the basis of the bill talks about the UCC in the context of the whole country and not just one state.

"We are not opposing the bill or its passage, but it should be referred to a select committee of the House before it is passed," he said.

Pointing out a "contradiction" in the bill, Congress MLA from Jaspur, Adesh Singh Chauhan, said the bill leaves the tribal population out of its ambit but at the same time states that it will apply to the whole of the state.

"If it leaves the tribes of Uttarakhand out of its purview, how can it be said to extend to the whole of the state? Hence, I would propose that the bill be referred to a select committee of the House," Chauhan said.

According to the listed business of the House for the day, Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami will propose the passage of the bill.