The Uttarakhand High Court on Wednesday issued notices to both the state government and the Central government, requiring them to respond within six weeks to a writ petition challenging the implementation of the Uniform Civil Code (UCC) in Uttarakhand, which took effect on January 27.
The division bench, consisting of Chief Justice G Narendar and Justice Ashish Naithani, heard the petition filed by Dehradun-based Almasuddin Siddiqui and Haridwar-based Ikram, who raised concerns about the UCC’s adherence to constitutional rights and religious freedoms.
Kartikey Hari Gupta, the counsel for the petitioners, argued that the UCC contravenes the essential religious practices of Muslims as prescribed in the Quran. “We have pleaded before the court that the law prescribed in the Quran and its verses is an essential religious practice for every Muslim. UCC prescribes procedures for religious matters which are absolutely contrary to the verses of the Quran,” Gupta stated.
The petitioners contend that the UCC infringes upon Article 25 of the Indian Constitution, which guarantees the freedom to practice and profess one’s religion. They also allege that the UCC violates Article 245 due to its extra-territorial jurisdiction implications and the Right to Privacy under Article 21, particularly criticizing the mandatory registration of live-in relationships and associated penalties.
Further issues raised include the UCC’s impact on the Iddat period for divorced Muslim women, arguing that its abolition by the UCC violates religious practices. Additionally, the petition claims that the UCC does not uniformly apply to all citizens, notably excluding Scheduled Tribes, thus creating arbitrary discrimination.
The UCC in Uttarakhand mandates that live-in partners, irrespective of their original residency, must register their relationship within the jurisdiction they inhabit. This requirement also extends to Uttarakhand residents living outside the state and to couples where one partner is a foreign national and the other a resident of Uttarakhand.
