New Delhi: Assam’s Legislative Assembly Wednesday passed the Uniform Civil Code (UCC) Bill 2026, establishing a unified legal framework to regulate marriage, divorce, succession and live-in relationships irrespective of religion.
Assam is set to be the third state in India, after Uttarakhand and Gujarat, to implement a UCC, marking a significant step in the realisation of the constitutional vision under Article 44 as a Directive Principle of State Policy.
The UCC refers to a common set of civil laws governing personal matters, such as marriage, divorce, inheritance and adoption for all citizens, replacing religion-based personal laws with a uniform legal framework.
When it comes to the scope and basic structure of the law, the three states demonstrate strong similarities.
Marriage
In terms of marriage laws, there is near-complete uniformity across all three states. Uttarakhand, Gujarat and Assam prescribe a minimum marriage age of 21 years for men and 18 years for women, and all uniformly prohibit polygamy.
All three laws emphasise mandatory registration of marriages, marking a shift from purely ceremonial recognition to legal formalisation.
This requirement strengthens legal certainty and state oversight, ensuring that all marriages are documented and regulated under a common framework.
Additionally, all three states exclude tribal marriages from the scope of the UCC, recognising constitutional protections and the importance of preserving customary practices within such communities.
Live-in relationships
A key area of innovation and convergence is the regulation of live-in relationships, which represents a significant expansion of traditional family law.
The code mandates registration of live-in relationships, especially when partners stay together for a prescribed duration, to ensure legal recognition and accountability.
The laws aim to protect the rights of women and children arising from such relationships by granting children equal inheritance rights irrespective of marital status and safeguarding women against abandonment.
The broader objective of these mandates is to formalise non-marital cohabitation, reduce misuse, and integrate such relationships within the legal framework governing succession, maintenance, and protection from exploitation, although critics argue that mandatory registration may infringe on privacy and personal autonomy.
Uttarakhand was the first to grant legal recognition to live-in relationships and make their registration compulsory. This includes provisions ensuring maintenance rights for partners and legitimacy of children born from such relationships.
Assam largely follows this model, incorporating similar provisions with minor procedural adjustments.
Gujarat, however, adopts a more stringent approach by strengthening enforcement mechanisms, including stricter penalties for non-registration and violations.
Thus, while all three states recognise live-in relationships, they differ in the level of enforcement, with Gujarat moving toward a more compliance-driven framework.
Inheritance
Before the introduction of the UCC, succession and inheritance in these states were governed by religion‑based personal laws.
Hindus, Buddhists, Jains and Sikhs were covered under the Hindu Succession Act, 1956. Muslims followed uncodified personal law derived from the Quran. Christians and Parsis were governed by the Indian Succession Act, 1925.
These systems differed significantly in their treatment of heirs, including the quantum of shares allotted, the rights of women and the classification of heirs.
The UCC replaces these plural frameworks with a single, secular law governing succession for all residents (except Scheduled Tribes).
The UCC frameworks in Assam, Gujarat and Uttarakhand move away from the traditional Hindu heir classification system: Class I heirs comprise immediate family like widows, sons, daughters and mothers, while Class II heirs include fathers and siblings. They inherit only if no Class I heirs exist.
UCC simplifies succession: Spouses, children and parents inherit equally under Class I heirs.
Sons and daughters receive equal shares, eliminating old gender-based disparities such as Muslim daughters getting half the share of sons, or Hindu widows historically having limited rights to property due to lack of coparcenary rights.
A coparcenary is a group within a Hindu joint family consisting of members who acquire a right in ancestral property by birth and hold it jointly until partition.
If a valid will exists, the UCC does not interfere. It applies only to intestate succession, which means when someone dies without a will.
Penal provisions
The most notable differences emerge in the area of penal provisions and enforcement mechanisms.
Uttarakhand adopts a relatively moderate approach, focusing primarily on establishing norms and ensuring compliance through administrative systems such as mandatory registration, while also incorporating penalties to address instances of non-compliance.
Gujarat strengthens this framework by introducing stricter penalties, including fines for violations such as failure to register marriages or live-in relationships.
Assam, while broadly following the same structure, also incorporates measures, including both fines and provisions for imprisonment in certain cases of non-compliance, particularly with respect to live-in relationship registration.
In this respect, Assam and Uttarakhand reflect a stronger emphasis on enforcement, though Gujarat remains significant for its penalty framework.
(Edited by Sugita Katyal)
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