Assam Assembly passes Uniform Civil Code Bill

• The Assam Assembly passed the Uniform Civil Code (UCC) Bill on May 27.

• The Uniform Civil Code (UCC) aims to establish a uniform legal framework for personal matters, including marriage, divorce, adoption, inheritance, and succession for all citizens, regardless of their religion.

• The Bill will not be applicable to the Scheduled Tribes of Assam. 

• With the passage of the proposed legislation, Assam became the third state, after Uttarakhand and Gujarat, to pass a Uniform Civil Code Bill. 

• Goa also has one common civil law, which continued from its erstwhile Portuguese colonial period.

• The Assam government tabled the Bill on the UCC on May 25, seeking to ban polygamy and make registration of live-in relationships compulsory.

• After a day-long discussion on the ‘The Uniform Civil Code, Assam, 2026 Bill’, Speaker Ranjeet Kumar Dass rejected the opposition’s demand that the Bill be sent to a select committee for wider consultation, prompting them to move to the Well of the House and keep on raising slogans till the draft was passed.

• Replying to a discussion on the Bill, Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said the proposed legislation is based on the foundation of the Constitution’s Article 44.

• Article 44 of the Constitution relating to Directive Principles of State Policy provides that State shall endeavor to secure for the citizens a Uniform Civil Code throughout the territory of India.

• MLAs representing the ruling NDA in the Assam Assembly said the UCC Bill seeks to protect women's rights and is not against any religion or religious practice.

• The Bill seeks to establish a common legal framework to govern marriage, divorce, succession and live-in relationships irrespective of religion.

• It proposed several measures, including seven years imprisonment for bigamy or polygamy, and three months in jail for not registering a live-in relationship.

(The author is a trainer for Civil Services aspirants.)