UCC bill: Live-in couples in Uttarakhand must register or face imprisonment

Dehradun: Live-in partners in Uttarakhand will have to register themselves with district officials or face imprisonment under the state's Uniform Civil Code bill, once it becomes a law.

Children born of such relationships will be considered legitimate and deserted women will be entitled to maintenance from their partners.

Like marriages, live-in relationships must be registered. Live-in partners must not be under 18. But if any one of them is under 21, the registrar is bound to inform their parents or guardians, according to the Uniform Civil Code, Uttarakhand, 2024 bill.

The bill which was tabled in the state assembly on Tuesday makes it mandatory for each partner in a live-in relationship to submit a statement to the registrar on their relationship or face a prison term or a fine or both. Anyone staying in a live-in relationship for more than a month without getting it registered will face punishment with an imprisonment up to three months or a fine of up to Rs 10,000 or both, the bill says.

A higher fine of up to Rs 25,000 apart from an imprisonment of up to three months can be imposed on any person who provides false information in his or her statement on a live-in relationship to the registrar.

Residents of Uttarakhand staying in a live-in relationship outside the territory of the state may submit a statement on their relationship under sub-section (1) of section 381 to the registrar within whose jurisdiction they might be living, the bill says. The bill, which was tabled in the House by Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami, also makes it obligatory for partners of a live-in relationship within the state, whether they are residents of Uttarakhand or not, to submit a statement of their relationship to the registrar within whose jurisdiction they are living in a prescribed format.

Live-in relationships in which at least one partner is a minor will not be registered. If any of the partners is under the age of 21, the registrar will inform their parents or guardians, according to the bill.

Both partners in a live-in relationship may terminate it and submit a statement of termination in the prescribed format to the registrar under whose jurisdiction they ordinarily reside. Debate on the bill ahead of its passage in the House will be resumed on Wednesday. Live-in relationships, where the consent of one of the partners was obtained by force, coercion, undue influence, misrepresentation or fraud concerning the identity of the other partner, will also not be registered.

If a woman in a live-in relationship gets deserted by her partner, she will be entitled to claim maintenance from him for which she may approach a competent court having jurisdiction over the place where they last cohabited, the bill states.

Live-in couples who do not have their relationship registered within a month of being served a notice by the registrar concerned to do so will be punished on conviction by a judicial magistrate with a prison term extending to six months or a fine of up to Rs 25,000 or both, the bill says. The bill proposes a common law on marriage, divorce, land, property and inheritance for all citizens irrespective of their religion in Uttarakhand, excluding the Scheduled Tribes.