UCC bill introduced in Assam assembly; seeks to ban polygamy, register live-in relationships; exempts tribal communities

UCC bill introduced in Assam assembly; seeks to ban polygamy, register live-in relationships; exempts tribal communities

The bill for a uniform civil code tabled in the Assam assembly on May 25 proposes for the first time a statutory framework governing live-in relationships in the state. “By requiring registration, the law ensures that the rights of partners — and any children born from such unions — are formally recognised and protected,” Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said.

What are the provisions?
The Assam UCC bill makes registration of live-in relationships compulsory. It also proposes the creation of administrative machinery, including the appointment of registrars, to handle such registrations alongside those for marriages and divorces.

Scheduled Tribes are exempted from the bill’s provisions for uniform personal laws entirely. Tribal communities account for 12.45% of Assam’s population and Muslims 34.22%, according to the 2011 census.

The proposed legislation could protect women and children by providing a legal safety net in cases of desertion in a live-in relationship. This would also ensure a uniform inheritance system, and thus give rights to children born out of these unions.

The granular details, such as registration timelines, the penalty for non-compliance, the documentation required, and the process of verification, were not available from the tabled version. Those details are likely to become clearer when the full text is publicly published and the bill is debated on May 27.

The opposition parties, including Congress, Raijor Dal and Trinamool Congress, opposed the move and demanded wider consultation with all the stakeholders before its introduction.

Basis of bill
Article 44 of the Constitution, in the Directive Principles of State Policy, advocates for a UCC. But respective religion-based civil codes have governed personal matters since Independence.

In February 2024, Uttarakhand became the first state in the country to pass a UCC law. Another Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-ruled state, Gujarat, followed suit in March. BJP-ruled Madhya Pradesh has set up a committee to draft the UCC.

A pan-India UCC is the BJP’s third main ideological promise. The construction of the Ram Temple in Ayodhya and the revocation of Jammu and Kashmir’s semi-autonomous status under the Constitution’s Article 370, the other two major ideological goals, have been achieved since the BJP came to power at the Centre in 2014.

The BJP promised to introduce UCC in Assam in its manifesto ahead of the 2026 assembly polls. The state Cabinet approved the legislation in its first meeting on May 13.