Live-in couples must register or face jail term

Any child born of such a relationship shall be considered legitimate

The Uttarakhand government on Tuesday tabled the Uniform Code (UCC) Uttarakhand 2024 Bill in the state Assembly.

Civil of The Bill prescribes penal action, including a jail term of three months, for couples who fail to record their live-in relationships with a government registrar within a month of starting to live together.

It also prohibits marriage of people who are already married, which effectively bans polyandry and polygamy. The Bill has kept the state's Scheduled Tribes (STS), which comprise 2.9 per cent of the population, outside the purview of the proposed law.

Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami tabled the Bill in the state Assembly on the second day of the four-day session, with the Opposition Congress demanding more time to discuss the proposed law.

According to a PTI report, the leader of the Opposition, Yashpal Arya, said the Bill had 392 Sections and ran into 172 pages. He said it would have been better if the Opposition members were given enough time to study it.

Speaker Ritu Khanduri acceded to the Opposition's demand for more time to discuss the Bill.