Overview
- The state legislature passed the Uniform Civil Code Bill on July 21, and the law cannot take effect until the Governor gives formal assent.
- The code organizes law around four areas — marriage, divorce, succession and live‑in relationships — and makes marriage registration mandatory.
- Key provisions set minimum marriage ages (21 for men, 18 for women), ban polygamy, require judicial divorce procedures, and grant equal inheritance rights to daughters and sons.
- The bill would require registration of live‑in relationships and creates penal rules including up to five years' jail for a married man who deceives his wife into a live‑in relationship.
- The government says a committee led by former Supreme Court Justice Ranjana Prakash Desai drafted the bill after wide consultations, the ruling party says it has public backing, the opposition protested and sought a Select Committee, and similar UCC laws have been passed in Uttarakhand, Gujarat and Assam.