Uttarakhand readies for UCC implementation

New Delhi: Conscious of the political import of the Uttarakhand Uniform Civil Code, which may set the template for a similar law in other BJP-ruled states, the BJP government in the state has initiated intensive training of the bureaucracy even as it treads with caution in giving final touches to the rules to be notified.

CM Pushkar Singh Dhami declared last week that his government is “committed to implementing UCC this month”. It is widely believed that the rules would be notified closer to the Republic Day.

In a race against time, registrars and sub-registrars are being trained in all blocks across the state on the UCC procedures. An online portal and app have been created to facilitate online registration of civil procedures.

But the trickiest aspect of the Uttarakhand UCC has been the application of time-bound judicial processes in settling civil disputes that were part of the recommendations of the committee formed after the passage of the bill in the Assembly.

The panel headed by Shatrughan Singh, in its 400-page report submitted last year, dealt with procedures for the registration of marriages, divorces, live-in relationships, births and deaths.

Sources said the law and legislative departments had earlier written to the Shatrughan panel with certain clarifications and suggestions on issues related to the timely disposal of divorce petitions, child custody in separation cases and succession.

For instance, the panel had stipulated a 15-day window to determine the income of spouses in divorce cases to ensure early disposal of cases. Similarly, the expert committee had recommendations on online registration of Class 1 legal heirs also came under scrutiny.

“As we have seen in the Atul Subhash (Bengaluru techie who died by suicide) case, it is pertinent to expedite cases related to personal laws akin to provisions of the Juvenile Justice Act,” a committee member told DH.

There is no clarity on how much the government would draw from the recommendations of the Shatrughan Singh panel. The opposition alleged that the content of the reports has not been shared with the legislature for wider consultations. “There is nothing new in the proposed law. From whatever we have heard, it is a cut, copy and paste job,” said Bhuwan Kapri, deputy leader of the Congress in the Uttarakhand Assembly.

Under the constitutional framework, a law passed by the legislature comes into force only after the rules specifying details of its implementation are finalised and notified by the executive. After the enactment of the Uttarakhand UCC, the state government constituted a committee to recommend the framing of rules.

During a recent debate in Parliament on the 75 years of the Constitution, Union Home Minister and senior BJP leader Amit Shah announced that Uttarakhand like Common Civil Code will be introduced in all BJP-ruled states.