'Can you make necessary changes in Uniform Civil Code?' HC asks Uttarakhand

On February 7, 2024, the Legislative Assembly of the state of Uttarakhand in India passed the Uniform Civil Code

The Uttarakhand High Court has asked the state if it was willing to make necessary changes in the Uniform Civil Code (UCC) implemented in the state recently.

A division bench of Justices Manoj Tiwari and Ashish Naithani posed the question to solicitor general Tushar Mehta while hearing a PIL challenging the provisions in the UCC over live-in relationships. Mehta appeared for the hearing in court via video-conferencing.

The pleas were filed by Dr Uma Bhatt, Kamla Pant, and Munish Kumar, as well as a live-in couple from Uttarakhand, represented by Advocate Vrinda Grover. Both petitions challenge UCC provisions, especially the rules regarding mandatory registration of live-in relationships

While hearing another plea against the UCC previously, the high court gave the Centre and the state government six weeks to respond.

The PIL, like its predecessors, took exception to the registration forms for live-in relationships and alleged that the information sought violates the privacy of such couples.

The petitioners said police stations would possess every information of persons in such relationships enabling them for domiciliary visits, disrupting privacy.

The court pointed out that the police was a state machinery and not authorised to harass individuals. The pleas also challenge provisions in which a woman would have to announce her pregnancy status in order to terminate the live-in relationship.

The high court tagged all the pleas challenging the provisions of UCC and would the matter on April 1.