DEHRADUN: The Uttarakhand government filed an affidavit responding to over a dozen petitions challenging the Uniform Civil Code (UCC) in Nainital High Court. The court is set to hear the case on April 22.
Enacted in February 2024, the UCC seeks to standardise personal laws on marriage, divorce, inheritance, and property succession, despite concerns about privacy violations and risks to vulnerable couples.
A government official stated that the Uttarakhand government's defense of the UCC asserts that the legislation not only protects individual rights and gender equality, but also promotes "national integration" through a unified legal framework.
In the affidavit, the state government accentuated the necessity of new legislation to prevent criminal offenses that arise from unregisted intimate relationships and protect the dignity of children born to unmarried couples.
The government claimed that privacy of registered persons is will be safeguarded and not misused by registrars. The state referenced the 2017 Puttaswamy judgement, claiming that the UCC qualifies the three-fold test for privacy incursions: legislative competence, Legitimate state interest and proportionality.
The government dismissed concerns about Aadhaar registration surveillance as unfounded, stating that data is kept confidential and not cross-linked. It also asserted its authority to enforce laws with extraterritorial application for Uttarakhand residents living outside the state.
The Uttarakhand government stated, "With 15 other states mandating marriage registration, the UCC aims to enhance marital stability rather than surveillance."
Sources revealed that the affidavit submitted by the Union of India and the Uttarakhand government argues that the right to privacy is not absolute.
The government asserted that even the makers of the Constitution deem the UCC essential for fostering national unity and integrity. In the affidavit, the government also referenced landmark cases including the 1985 Shah Bano Begum case concerning maintenance rights and the 2019 Jose Paulo Coutinho verdict which lauded Goa as a "shining example" of UCC implementation.
According to sources, the affidavit argues that there was consensus that legislators and policymakers are better equipped to handle complex social issues, and intervention by courts is justified only when fundamental rights or constitutional mandates are flouted.
Speaking exclusively to TNIE, Uttarakhand Muslim Sewa Sangthan president Naem Ahmed Qureshi stated, "The Uniform Civil Code (UCC) in Uttarakhand is the imposition of customs, traditions, and faith of the majority community upon Muslims. The Chief Minister of Uttarakhand boasts about preserving the religion and culture of the state. This indicates the RSS/BJP's idea of nationalism. Their concept of nationalism is the imposition of Vedic faith upon other communities."
He further emphasised, "This is a scathing attack on the secular fabric of India and a step toward the establishment of a Hindu Rashtra in India. The exemption of tribals makes it evident that the law has been brought forth to destroy the faith and culture of Muslims in Uttarakhand."
