Uttarakhand's Uniform Civil Code explained: live-in registration, marriage rules and what it bans

Uttarakhand was the first state in India to bring a Uniform Civil Code into force, on January 27, 2025. The law replaces the separate personal laws of different religions with one set of rules on marriage, divorce, live-in relationships, inheritance and wills for everyone living in the state, with one major exception. Nearly two years later, as Uttarakhand heads into its 2027 assembly election, it is the BJP government’s signature reform, and one of the most searched-about laws in the country.

What is the Uniform Civil Code, and who does it cover?

One civil law for all residents, whatever their religion. India’s personal laws on marriage, divorce and inheritance have long differed by religion: Hindu, Muslim, Christian and Parsi law each have their own rules. Uttarakhand’s code applies a common set of rules to everyone in the state, and also to Uttarakhand residents living elsewhere.

Scheduled Tribes are exempt. The code does not apply to members of the state’s Scheduled Tribes, whose customary laws continue.

The law took three years to prepare. The assembly passed the Uttarakhand Uniform Civil Code Bill on February 7, 2024; the Congress said its MLAs had not been given enough time to read and respond to it. President Droupadi Murmu gave her assent on March 11, 2024, and Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami brought it into force on January 27, 2025, launching its rules and an online portal at his camp office in Dehradun.

What does the code ban?

Polygamy, halala and triple talaq, along with child marriage. A person cannot take a second spouse while the first marriage subsists, and the practices of halala and iddat associated with Muslim personal law are prohibited. The code also gives men and women similar rights of inheritance.

According to Manu Gaur, a member of the committee that drafted the rules, 11 cases of polygamy and 54 of triple talaq were registered in the code’s first year.

What does it require of live-in couples?

Registration within a month. This is the most debated part of the law. Under the code as passed in 2024, a couple living together in Uttarakhand must each submit a statement to a registrar within one month of starting the relationship. Partners must be at least 18; a relationship with a minor cannot be registered, and if either partner is between 18 and 20, the registrar informs their parents or guardians.

A relationship cannot be registered if consent was obtained by force, coercion, undue influence, misrepresentation or fraud about identity. Either partner can end it by filing a termination statement. A woman deserted by her live-in partner can claim maintenance in court, and children born of such relationships are legitimate.

The January 2026 ordinance revised the code’s penal provisions to align them with India’s new criminal laws, so the exact punishments may now differ from those in the 2024 law.

What happened in the first year?

A surge in marriage registrations, and very few live-in applications. Because registration moved online, marriage registrations rose from an average of 67 a day before the code to over 1,400. By January 19, 2026, 4,74,447 marriages had been registered, along with about 8,000 marriages that took place before the code and more than 4,000 wills. The state says over five lakh applications were processed and more than 95% resolved, with no complaints of privacy violations.

Live-in registration drew far fewer people. Only 162 applications were filed on the portal in the first year, and 70 were approved; the rest were rejected for not meeting the law’s conditions.

What changed in 2026?

Procedures, appeals and penalties. On the code’s first anniversary, the state brought in the Uniform Civil Code (Amendment) Ordinance, 2026, with the Governor’s approval. It made procedural and administrative changes, strengthened registrars’ powers and the appeals process, and aligned the penalties with the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita and the other new criminal codes. Marriage certificates are now issued in an average of five days.

Why does it matter for the 2027 election?

Because the BJP is running on it and its opponents question it. Dhami says the code is not against any religion and targets harmful social practices, and the BJP presents it as a promise kept from the 2022 campaign. The Congress objected when the Bill was passed that its MLAs had not been given enough time to study it, and the live-in rules, which bring the state into the registration of private relationships, remain the most contested part of the law.