Overview
- The state cabinet unanimously approved the draft UCC on Sunday, July 19, moving the proposal to be formally introduced in the Legislative Assembly during the Monsoon Session.
- The draft makes monogamy the only recognised form of marriage, bans practices such as triple talaq and nikah halala, and requires mandatory registration of marriages and live-in relationships.
- The bill proposes equal inheritance and property rights for sons and daughters, recognition of children from live-in relationships, and legal maintenance rights for women who are abandoned.
- Scheduled Tribes and certain Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups living in protected areas are explicitly exempted from the draft, a measure the government says rests on constitutional protections for tribal customs.
- The draft was prepared by a committee led by retired Justice Ranjana P. Desai after public consultations that the government says drew about one million responses, and the Assembly debate may produce amendments and legal challenges similar to other states that have passed UCC-style laws.