DEHRADUN: The Uttarakhand government filed an affidavit responding to over a dozen petitions challenging the Uniform Civil Code (UCC) in Nainital High Court. The court is set to hear the case on April 22. Enacted in February 2024, the UCC seeks to standardise personal laws on marriage, divorce, inheritance, and property succession, despite concerns about privacy violations and risks to vulnerable couples.A government official stated that the Uttarakhand government’s defense of the UCC asserts that the legislation not only protects individual rights and gender equality, but also promotes “national integration” through a unified legal framework.In the affidavit, the state government accentuated the necessity of new legislation to prevent criminal offenses that arise from unregisted intimate relationships and protect the dignity of children born to unmarried couples. The government claimed that privacy of registered persons is will be safeguarded and not misused by registrars. The state referenced the 2017 Puttaswamy judgement, claiming that the UCC qualifies the three-fold test for privacy incursions: legislative competence, Legitimate state interest and proportionality.The government dismissed concerns about Aadhaar registration surveillance as unfounded, stating that data is kept confidential and not cross-linked. It also asserted its authority to enforce laws with extraterritorial application for Uttarakhand residents living outside the state.The Uttarakhand government stated, “With 15 other states mandating marriage registration, the UCC aims to enhance marital stability rather than surveillance.”
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