Uttarakhand Assembly ‘creates history’ by passing Uniform Civil Code: Pushkar Dhami

The Uttarakhand Assembly passed the State’s Uniform Civil Code on Wednesday, despite the Opposition’s demand that the Bill should be handed over to the House’s select committee first. Terming it a “historic moment”, Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami said that Assembly had become the first legislature in independent India to pass a Bill that imposes common rules for all communities — except Scheduled Tribes — on marriage, divorce, inheritances, and live-in relationships. In his final address before the Speaker Ritu Khanduri Bhushan called for a voice vote on the UCC Bill, Mr. Dhami said that the legislation would end the injustice faced by women for centuries. The State’s UCC is based on a draft submitted by a committee formed by the Uttarakhand government under the chairmanship of retired Supreme Court judge Justice Ranjana Prakash Desai.