New Delhi: Couples in a live-in relationship are required to register with the state government, according to the Uttarakhand Uniform Civil Code (UCC), but they can also do so online, ThePrint has learnt.
The Rules and Implementation Committee for Uttarakhand UCC is planning a web-portal and a mobile application to ensure the process is done in a faceless and smooth manner.
The committee has formed three-sub committees — one for rule-making and procedural aspects, the second for online registration and the third for training government and other officials.
Speaking to ThePrint, a senior official said work on giving the final shape to the web portal and the mobile app was in progress. “They can submit their application through the app. A verification will be done through their Aadhaar card. They will be intimated online and a certification will be issued,” he said, adding that couples can also inform the government online when they terminate the relationship. The local police will be kept in the loop about the process, he added.
It is learnt that the committee will hold another meeting next week to chalk out the security aspects of the online exercise.
The Presidential assent to the Uttarakhand UCC Bill passed in the Assembly last month is pending and is likely to be done before the Model Code of Conduct kicks in.
The official further said that in case the registrar raises any query and does not approve it, the couple will be informed about it online and their appeal can be done through the app itself.
“Everything will be done in a time-bound manner and Aadhaar-linked verification will be carried out due to security concerns,” said a member of the Rules and Implementation Committee for Uttarakhand UCC to ThePrint.
Also read: 160-yr-old law on wills for modern India? Uttarakhand’s UCC has just copy-pasted it
In case the applicants were minor or even if one of the applicants was a minor, the parents or guardians would be informed through a text message. “Here, Aadhaar will come in handy as they will have to provide the correct information. The idea is only to inform parents,” the official quoted earlier said. “The registration is only for the record… no one else in the state will be able to access this information, so concerns regarding privacy are misconstrued.”
According to the committee member, directions from the Pushkar Singh Dhami government were to ensure that the entire process is faceless and that no inconvenience is caused to the applicants. The same portal would also be used for registering marriages.
“The idea of record-keeping is to ensure that rights of either of the partners or a child born out of their relationship are secured. There have been cases where couples have levelled false charges against each other, including that of rape. This kind of a certificate will come handy in such situations,” the committee member said. “It is also to safeguard the rights of women who can potentially be duped by fraudsters under the pretext of a live-in relationship. A registration would maintain a record of such relationships and also give rights to a woman in case a child is born out of it.”
The member said that courts have accorded legal rights to women in a live-in relationship by extending the application of Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act to it. “The registration of the relationship will act as evidence in a case if required,” the member added.
According to the Bill, it is “obligatory for partners to a live-in relationship within the state, whether they are residents of Uttarakhand or not, to submit a statement of live-in relationship (sic)” to the registrar under whose jurisdiction they are living.
Among other things, the Bill provides for maintenance “if a woman gets deserted by her live-in partner”, to be pursued through courts. It also stated that any child born out of a live-in relationship should be considered a legitimate child of the couple.
The Bill also seeks to empower the registrar to refuse registration if one of the parties was already in another live-in relationship or marriage, or consent was obtained by force, fraud etc.
If live-in couples failed to submit the statement within a month, a notice could be issued to them, the Bill says, while laying down three categories of punishment.
The draft says that whoever stayed in a live-in relationship for more than a month without submitting the statement should be punished — upon conviction by a judicial magistrate — with imprisonment of up to three months, or with a fine not exceeding Rs 10,000, or both.
(Edited by Tikli Basu)
Also read: Uttarakhand UCC doesn’t reform Indian family law. Gender equality was never its intention