Five live-in couples apply for UCC registration, many fear scrutiny

Five couples have applied to register their live-in relationships under Uttarakhand’s new Uniform Civil Code, marking the first test of the landmark legislation’s controversial provisions on personal relationships, even as some others expressed strong reservations about the mandatory registration requirement. It is stored virtually, a data breach or cyberattack can’t be ruled out.” Another couple echoed these sentiments, stating simply: “We don’t want to register and keep the relationship private.” Chief minister Pushkar Singh Dhami has in the past defended the live-in registration provisions citing safety concerns. Under the legislation, which made Uttarakhand the first state in independent India to implement UCC, live-in couples must register their relationship with local authorities regardless of whether they are state residents. The UCC rules include several measures, mostly deemed controversial for state overreach: Registrars must notify local police of registrations, parents or guardians must be informed if either partner is under 21, landlords are prohibited from discriminating against registered live-in couples seeking accommodation and the verification process includes checking for relationships within prohibited degrees of kinship.