The Assam assembly has approved the Uniform Civil Code Bill, aiming to standardise laws related to marriage, divorce, and inheritance across all religions, excluding Scheduled Tribes.
Key Points
- Assam Assembly passes the Uniform Civil Code Bill to govern marriage, divorce, and succession uniformly across religions.
- The UCC Bill in Assam excludes Scheduled Tribes, acknowledging their existing customary laws.
- The Assam UCC Bill proposes strict penalties, including imprisonment for polygamy and failure to register live-in relationships.
- Chief Minister Sarma defends the UCC as a means to ensure dignity and security for women in Assam.
- Opposition parties criticise the UCC Bill as a political agenda and a diversion from critical issues.
The Assam assembly on Wednesday passed the UCC Bill that seeks to put in place a common legal framework to govern marriage, divorce, succession and live-in relationships irrespective of religion, even as the opposition demanded that it be sent to a select committee.
With the passage of the proposed legislation, Assam became the third state, after Uttarakhand and Gujarat, to pass a Uniform Civil Code Bill.
Goa also has one common civil law, which continued from its erstwhile Portuguese colonial period.
Key Provisions of the Assam UCC Bill
After a day-long discussion on the 'The Uniform Civil Code, Assam, 2026 Bill', Speaker Ranjeet Kumar Dass asked Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma to move it for passage.
Dass rejected the opposition's demand that the Bill be sent to a select committee for wider consultation, prompting them to move to the Well of the House and keep on shouting till the Bill was passed.
As the opposition did not move the amendments it had raised, the speaker put the Bill for voice voting, amid continuous slogans of 'Bharat Mata Ki Jai' and 'Jai Shri Ram' by the ruling bench.
"I declare that the Bill is passed," he said after the ruling members voted in favour of it.
As soon as the Bill was passed, it was welcomed by a thunderous applause.
Focus on Marriage, Divorce and Live-in Relationships
Aiming for a common set of laws on a range of personal matters like marriage, divorce, succession and live-in relationships irrespective of religion, the Assam government had on Monday tabled a Bill on the Uniform Civil Code, seeking to ban polygamy and make registration of live-in relationships compulsory.
The Bill, however, said that it will not be applicable to any person belonging to the Scheduled Tribes and residing in Assam. It proposed several punitive measures, including seven years imprisonment for bigamy or polygamy, and three months in jail for not registering a live-in relationship.
Government's Perspective on the UCC
"There can't be a better start to our five-year tenure than passing the UCC in the first assembly session of our new government. Prices of gas can decrease and increase, but no government can return the dignity of women if it's lost once. If the BJP had not won this time, lakhs of women wouldn't be able to get the shield of security," Sarma said.
Earlier during the discussion on the Bill, he claimed that the Congress was the first to advocate a Uniform Civil Code way back in 1925, and the opposition party is no longer secular and has become a representative of one particular community.
Sarma said the proposed legislation is based on the foundation of the Constitution's Article 44, not on any BJP or RSS ideology as alleged by the opposition bench.
He justified the exclusion of tribals from the ambit of the proposed legislation, claiming that they already have many customary laws for ages on such personal matters.
"Tribals don't support polygamy, give equal rights to girls and don't recognise live-in relationships. They, in a way, have been implementing the UCC for ages. Self-regulation is the best regulation. So, we don't want to impose it on the tribals," Sarma said.
Opposition's Concerns and Criticisms
The opposition members, on the other hand, termed the Bill on Uniform Civil Code as "BJP's political agenda" and sought wider consultation among all stakeholders before the passage of the proposed legislation.
They also said it would hurt the rights of a certain section of society and alleged that bringing in the UCC is a diversionary tactic from the main issues like unemployment, flood and the condition of government schools, among others.
