Regressive marriage customs are punishable under proposed UCC in Uttarakhand: Expert
PrashantNews
The proposed Uniform Civil Code (UCC) in Uttarakhand seeks to prohibit the regressive marriage customs in all religions and make them punishable by the law, experts said on Tuesday.
However, the state government chose to avoid direct mentioning of the halala custom in the proposed draft bill, experts said.
Significantly, the proposed UCC seeks to bring uniformity of the marriage in all religions. “There is small window in these marriage provisions which will be left open to the courts,” said an expert on the UCC draft. Under the proposed UCC, the customs of polyandry and polygamy have been banned. Any regressive practices in marriages are punishable.
The regressive marriage customs are banned and also punishable under the proposed UCC. “Punishable if someone is trying to instigate someone into the regressive practice,” the expert said. “The focus was to give freedom to women in the society,” the expert noted.
In live-in relationship, the couple has to inform an authority that they are in such relationship. The children born out of such relationship will have the same inheritance rights as the children born out of the wedlock. “We are protecting the rights of the children born out of the live-in relationship,” the expert said. If the couple takes liberty meaning not informing the authority, there are certain penalties. If the either of the couple is not of the marriageable age, the parents will also be brought into picture which means that they will also be kept in the loop.
Third important point in the proposed UCC is about succession and inheritance which are religions-based in the country. These customs are generally unfair towards women since they are flowing from patriarchal society. “We have removed the unfair treatment towards women and come out with a uniform law,” the expert said. In Hindus there is concept of coparcenary rights traditions where boys get property and girls are deprived. The new bill seeks to remove these anomalies. Similarly, among Muslims also the new bill has sought to remove the anomaly of inheritance of half property in case of females.
Significantly, tribal people have been kept out of the preview of the new bill, the expert said.