Guwahati, May 27 (PTI): The Assam Assembly on Wednesday passed the UCC Bill that seeks to put in place a common legal framework to govern marriage, divorce, succession and live-in relationships irrespective of religion, even as the opposition demanded that it be sent to a select committee.
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.
After a day-long discussion on the ‘The Uniform Civil Code, Assam, 2026 Bill’, Speaker Ranjeet Kumar Dass asked Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma to move it for passage.
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 Bill was passed.
As the opposition did not move the amendments it had raised earlier during the day, the Speaker put the Bill for a voice vote, amid continuous slogans of ‘Bharat Mata Ki Jai’ and ‘Jai Shree Ram’ by the ruling bench.
“I declare that the Bill is passed,” he said after the ruling members voted in favour of the Assam UCC, a contentious and polarising issue that was part of the BJP’s election manifesto.
As soon as the Bill was passed, it was welcomed with thunderous applause.
Aiming for a common set of laws on a range of personal matters like marriage, divorce, succession and live-in relationships irrespective of religion, the Assam government had on Monday tabled the Bill on the Uniform Civil Code, seeking to ban polygamy and make registration of live-in relationships compulsory.
The Bill, however, said that it will not be applicable to the Scheduled Tribes of Assam. It proposed several punitive measures, including seven years imprisonment for bigamy or polygamy, and three months in jail for not registering a live-in relationship.
“There can’t be a better start of our five-year tenure than passing the UCC in the first assembly session of our new government. Prices of gas can decrease and increase, but no government can return the dignity of women once lost. Had the BJP not won this time, lakhs of women wouldn’t have been shielded with security,” Sarma said.
Earlier during the discussion on the Bill, he claimed that the Congress was the first to advocate a Uniform Civil Code way back in 1925, and accused the opposition party of “no longer being secular, and becoming a representative of a particular community”.
Sarma said the proposed legislation is based on the foundation of Article 44 of the Constitution, not on any BJP or RSS ideology as alleged by the opposition bench.
He justified the exclusion of tribals from the ambit of the proposed legislation, claiming that they already have many customary laws for ages on such personal matters.
“Tribals don’t support polygamy, give equal rights to girls and don’t recognise live-in relationships. They, in a way, have been implementing the UCC for ages. Self-regulation is the best regulation. So, we don’t want to impose it on the tribals,” Sarma said.
The opposition members, on the other hand, termed the Bill on Uniform Civil Code as “BJP’s political agenda” and sought wider consultation among all stakeholders before the passage of the proposed legislation.
They also said it will hurt the rights of a certain section of society and alleged that bringing in the UCC is a tactic to divert from main issues such as unemployment, flood and the condition of government schools, among others.
The Bill aimed to consolidate and simplify laws governing marriage, divorce, succession, and live-in relationships. For marriage, the Bill set 21 years and 18 years as minimum age for men and women respectively, and prohibited polygamy.
To safeguard legal rights, the Bill proposed to make marriage and divorce registration compulsory, which will be vital for securing maintenance, inheritance and other legal protection for spouses.
The Bill provided a legal framework for live-in relationships. By requiring registration, the law ensured that the rights of partners — and any children born from such unions — are formally recognised and protected.
The UCC aimed to modernise succession laws to ensure a fair and equal distribution of property. It introduced uniform rules for inheritance, ensuring that the transfer of assets is handled justly for all residents of the state.
In terms of succession, the Bill proposed to create a uniform, gender-equal order of preference for intestate inheritance among Class-1 heirs, which equitably includes the spouse, children, and parents of the deceased.
For testamentary succession, any adult of sound mind will be granted the legal right to execute a written and witnessed Will.
It also proposed to establish necessary administrative machinery, including the appointment of registrars, to implement the reforms.
The proposed law will repeal the Assam Compulsory Registration of Muslim Marriages and Divorces Act, 2024 to streamline the state’s statutory architecture.
This Bill proposed a series of penal provisions for different violations of the clauses related to exploitation, fraud and unlawful practices in personal relationships.
