‘Women’s rights’ are a convenient cover for UCC’s intrusive provisions
Advancing “gender equality”, protecting “women and children” and creating an “egalitarian society” are among the justifications the Uttarakhand government has offered in a court affidavit defending the state’s Uniform Civil Code.
The 140-point, 77-page-long document was filed in the Uttarakhand High Court on March 30 in response to five petitions challenging the Uniform Civil Code of Uttarakhand Act, 2024. The act, which came into force in January, replaced religion-based laws governing marriage, divorce and succession.
It also made it mandatory for live-in relationships to be registered. Those who fail to do so could face up to three months of imprisonment.
The petitions have alleged that the provisions of the act on live-in relationships violate the right to privacy, discriminate on the basis of gender and criminalise personal choices.
The state’s counter-affidavit has defended these provisions, saying that the right to privacy does not override “legitimate state interest” to regulate relationships that have social, legal and economic consequences. Its argument, however, is couched in a superficial language of women’s rights, even though the affidavit presents women solely as victims in need of protection.
Marriage = ‘marriage-like’
The affidavit reiterates that the difference between marriage and live-in relationships, even alluding that marriage is superior since it “occupies a distinct socio-legal position and live-in relationships can never be categorised...
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