Overview
- The Rajasthan Cabinet approved drafts of the Uniform Civil Code (UCC) and the Rajasthan Tree Protection Bill on Thursday, clearing them to be introduced in the Assembly when the session opens on August 20.
- The UCC draft, prepared by a committee headed by former Supreme Court justice Ranjana Prakash Desai and cleared by the Law Department, requires mandatory marriage registration within 60 days and compulsory registration of divorce.
- The UCC also mandates written intimation for the start and end of live-in relationships with a proposed Rs 10,000 fine for noncompliance, bans polygamy, and establishes equal inheritance rights for sons and daughters while excluding tribal customs from its scope.
- The Tree Protection Bill would prohibit felling of 29 listed species on non-forest land, require compensatory plantation (10% more trees) when removal is allowed, and set penalties of up to Rs 1 lakh and up to one year’s imprisonment for unauthorised cutting.
- The bills draw on precedents in Uttarakhand and Gujarat, and their clearance before the Model Code of Conduct makes the coming Assembly debates and likely legal scrutiny the next key developments to watch for families, tribal communities, and landowners.