The Assam Assembly on Wednesday (May 27) passed the Uniform Civil Code (UCC) Bill. With this, Assam has become the third state in the country after Uttarakhand and Gujarat to approve the UCC law. This bill was passed after discussion on the last day of the five-day session of the Assembly. Opposition parties had demanded to send the bill to the select committee for further deliberations, but the government got it passed directly by the House.
The BJP government led by Himanta Biswa Sarma had introduced this bill in the House on Monday. The main objective of the proposed law is to ban polygamy and make registration of live-in relationships mandatory.
However, the government has clarified that this law will not apply to the Scheduled Tribes living in Assam. Several punitive provisions have also been included in the bill. Under this, for bigamy or polygamy, i.e. having more than one marriage, there can be a jail term of up to seven years, while for not registering a live-in relationship, there is a provision of punishment of up to three months.
Opposition parties, including the Indian National Congress, Raijor Dal and All India Trinamool Congress, opposed the bill, saying wider discussions should have been held with various communities and stakeholders before its implementation. “The purpose of this bill is to unify and simplify the laws related to marriage, divorce, inheritance and live-in relationships,” Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said in a statement on the objects and reasons of the bill.
According to the government, this law is an attempt to simplify and uniform the laws related to marriage, divorce, inheritance and live-in relationships. In the bill, the minimum age of marriage has been fixed at 21 years for men and 18 years for women.
The Chief Minister said the law also protects the cultural diversity of the state as marriages as per religious and traditional customs will continue to be allowed. The law proposes mandatory registration of marriages and divorces to ensure maintenance, property rights and other legal protections.
For the first time, the bill also creates a legal framework for live-in relationships. The government says that making registration mandatory will provide legal recognition and protection to the rights of people living in such relationships and the children born from them.
Major changes have also been proposed in succession laws. The Chief Minister said that the objective of UCC is to ensure fair and equitable distribution of property. Under this, equal and gender-neutral rules will be implemented for distribution of property.
According to the bill, if a person dies intestate, his property will be divided equally among the first-class heirs including spouse, children and parents. Any adult person can make a valid will in writing and in the presence of witnesses. The law also includes several strict penal provisions. Polygamy and polygamy will be considered a crime under Section 82 of the Indian Judicial Code, punishable with imprisonment of up to seven years.
There is also a provision for jail and fine for child marriage, marriage without valid consent, marriage conducted through fraud or under duress. Marriage in a prohibited relationship is punishable with a jail term of up to six months and a fine of up to Rs 50,000, unless it falls within a recognized tradition.
The bill proposes a fine of up to Rs 10,000 for not registering a marriage or divorce within 60 days. Submitting fake documents can lead to a jail term of up to three months and a fine of up to Rs 25,000. Similarly, if a live-in relationship is not registered within one month, a jail term of up to three months or a fine of up to Rs 10,000 can be imposed.
Uttarakhand became the first state in the country to implement UCC, where the Pushkar Singh Dhami government passed this law in February 2024. After this, in March this year, the Gujarat Assembly, under the leadership of Bhupendra Patel government, also passed the UCC bill.
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