Hearing a petition challenging provisions of the Uniform Civil Code Act, 2024, the Uttarakhand High Court on Wednesday asked “what was wrong” in regulating live-in relationships, reported The Indian Express.

The Uniform Civil Code came into effect in Uttarakhand on January 27. The law mandates that all persons in live-in relationships within Uttarakhand, as well as all residents of the state temporarily living outside, must register their relationships. Failing to register a live-in relationship could result in imprisonment for up to three months and a fine of up to Rs 10,000.

Family law and women’s rights lawyers have suggested that the current legal framework already provides the safeguards that registration of live-in relationships is ostensibly meant for: to protect the rights of the female partner and children from the live-in relationship.

They warned that by making it more difficult to enter into live-in relationships, such regulation impinges on fundamental rights.

Two persons, Almasuddin Siddiqui and Ikram, have challenged the Uniform Civil Code in the High Court, stating that it violates the fundamental rights of Muslims and other citizens, as well as essential religious practices of the Muslim community, reported Bar and Bench.

On Wednesday, the High Court issued notices to the state and Union governments in the pleas.

A bench of Chief Justice G Narender also stated that there was a “fallout” of not registering live-in relationships, reported The Indian Express.

“What happens if this relationship breaks up?” asked Narender. “What if there is a child out of this relationship? In respect of marriage, there is a presumption regarding paternity but in a live-in relationship, where is that presumption?”

He added: “In the garb of invasion of your privacy, can the self-respect of another person be sacrificed, that too when he is your child and there is no proof of marriage… or paternity.”

The chief justice also noted that despite live-in relationships being recognised under the law that protects women from domestic violence, registration of such relationships could be helpful in matters of proving paternity.

Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, representing both the Uttarakhand and the Centre, told the High Court that the registration of live-in relationships is intended to promote women's empowerment.

The Union Civil Code is a common set of laws governing marriage, divorce, succession and adoption for all citizens. Currently, such personal affairs of different religious and tribal groups are based on community-specific laws, largely derived from religious scripture.

The code requires couples who live together to fill out a 16-page form registering their relationship – a process that requires them to give a long list of documents to the state government, including their Aadhaar cards, details of previous marital relationships or live-in relationships being terminated and the name and contact of their landlord.

If they fall within the “degrees of prohibited relationships” under the state’s Uniform Civil Code, which means if they are related by blood, they must get a certificate from a religious leader stating that they are eligible to marry.

Introducing a common personal law has long been on the Bharatiya Janata Party’s agenda and several states ruled by the Hindutva party have been taking steps towards implementing it.

In its campaign for the Uniform Civil Code in Uttarakhand, the BJP had mainly targeted Muslim personal law, arguing that it discriminated against women as it allows Muslim men to practice polygamy, inherit a greater share of property, initiate divorce and deny alimony.

Legal experts have said that the legislation has primarily drawn from Hindu personal law and could lead to the erasure of the personal law practices of minority communities.

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