"Our effort is to stop violence that takes place during live-in relationships": Uttarakhand CM on UCC

Dehradun (Uttarakhand) [India], February 21 : Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami on Friday underscored the state's efforts to implement the Uniform Civil Code (UCC), highlighting its potential to curb violence in live-in relationships.
In the context of live-in relationships, the UCC seeks to provide a framework for registering and regulating these partnerships, which would help prevent violence and abuse.
"Those who have been living in live-in relationships will now have to inform the administration and their parents about it. Our effort is not to violate anyone's privacy. Our effort is to stop the violence that takes place during live-in relationships," posted Uttarakhand Chief Minister's Office on X.
Meanwhile, on February 20, CM Dhami stated that the provision of registering live-in relationships in the Uniform Civil Code has been made to deter incidents like the Shraddha Walkar murder case.
Defending the provision, CM Dhami told reporters here,...In the Uniform Civil Code, we have made a provision to register live-in relationships so that no one like Aaftab can do such brutality again. What is wrong with this? When we were draughting the UCC, we had called opposition parties, including Congress, to give their views..."
Shraddha Walkar was allegedly murdered by her live-in partner, Aftab Amin Poonawala, on May 18, 2022. After the killing, the accused cut the body into 35 pieces and threw them in the jungle to destroy the evidence. CM Dhami said the UCC draughting committee had invited all the stakeholders, including Congress, to put forward their views.
"The Uniform Civil Code (UCC) has been implemented following the Constitution of India... Congress is against women's empowerment and they do not care about the safety of women," he said.
Uttarakhand became the first state to implement UCC. CM Dhami launched the UCC portal and rules on January 27, 2025, marking a significant milestone in the state's journey towards social justice and equality.
The Uniform Civil Code seeks to establish a set of uniform, personal laws that apply to all citizens, regardless of religion, gender, or caste. This would cover aspects such as marriage, divorce, adoption, inheritance, and succession.
The UCC applies to all residents of Uttarakhand, except Scheduled Tribes and protected authority-empowered persons and communities. This Act does not apply to the Scheduled Tribes (ST) notified under Article 342 and Article 366 (25) of the Constitution, and protected authority-empowered persons and communities under Part XXI have also been excluded from its purview.
The statement added that the Uniform Civil Code Act, 2024 of Uttarakhand, provides a public welfare system promoting the protection of individual rights and social harmony to streamline and simplify the legal processes related to marriage.
Under this, marriage can be solemnised only between those parties, none of whom has a living spouse, both of whom are mentally capable of giving legal permission, the man should have completed at least 21 years of age and the woman 18 years of age and they should not be in the ambit of prohibited relationships.