Uttarakhand Becomes First State to Enforce Uniform Civil Code on January 27

Uttarakhand is going to create a history by becoming the first state in the country implementing the Uniform Civil Code from January 27, 2025. The highly debated move will coincide with the visit of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to the state, making the occasion even more significant.

At 12:30 pm on January 27, the state government will launch the UCC portal at the Secretariat in Dehradun, marking the beginning of this major legal reform in the state. The Uniform Civil Code aims to establish a unified set of personal laws that will apply to all citizens, regardless of religion, caste, or gender. These laws will govern various aspects of personal life, such as marriage, divorce, adoption, inheritance, and succession.

The main essence of the Uniform Civil Code is aimed at equal provision for all individuals by unifying laws related to personal jurisdictions across communities. The UCC provisions, as notified by the Uttarakhand government earlier in the week, include elaborate legal clauses on marital conditions, protection of individual rights, and social harmony.

These provisions guarantee equal rights before the law among all citizens by eliminating disparities according to religion, gender, and community. Such a reform would be seen to be on its way toward integrating the nation at large; on the other hand, it has remained a point of political controversy as well.

The UCC would apply to all residents within the state of Uttarakhand, including those from outside the state. However, it is specially exempted from its parameters for Scheduled Tribes and other protected communities. The law brings uniformity in personal matters across the state, which makes it a landmark decision in the country’s legal landscape.

While the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has been supporting the introduction of the UCC, saying it will bring social cohesion, the opposition parties have expressed their apprehensions. Critics say that such a law may turn out to be “unworkable” and may ultimately divide communities along religious lines. They have expressed fears that the UCC may be resisted by different sections of society, especially those with deeply ingrained traditional practices.

On the other hand, Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami had vigorously defended this move and reiterated that the UCC was meant to create uniformity in a system of law for everyone to abide by rather than creating a situation that could create division. According to him, there would not be “divisive politics” brought on by the UCC, but only as a step towards the provision of justice and equality to the people of the state.

It has its basis in Article 44 of the Indian Constitution, where it encourages the state to “endeavour to secure for the citizens a uniform civil code throughout the territory of India.” Despite this, however, the provision remained largely unimplemented at the national level, so the step of Uttarakhand will be very meaningful.

With the Uniform Civil Code being implemented by the state, all eyes will be on how this landmark reform plays out in Uttarakhand and its potential to influence other states across the country.