The Division Bench of Justice Manoj Kumar Tiwari and Justice Pankaj Purohit modified this order after being informed that the UCC had not yet been notified by the State despite receiving Presidential assent.
Uttarakhand: Recently, the Uttarakhand High Court has rescinded a July 18 directive that required an interfaith couple in a live-in relationship to register their relationship under the yet-to-be-implemented Uniform Civil Code (UCC) of Uttarakhand.
Initially, the Court had granted police protection to the couple on the condition that they register their relationship under the UCC, 2024 within 48 hours.
However, on July 29, the Division Bench of Justice Manoj Kumar Tiwari and Justice Pankaj Purohit modified this order after being informed that the UCC had not yet been notified by the State despite receiving Presidential assent.
Section 378 of the Uniform Civil Code, Uttarakhand, 2024, mandates that partners in a live-in relationship must submit a statement to the appropriate registrar. Consequently, the Court had directed the couple to register under the UCC and granted them police protection. However, this condition has been removed since the UCC is not yet in force.
The Court’s July 29 order stated that
paragraphs 3, 4, and 5 of the final order dated July 18, which were based on the State Counsel’s submission, were to be removed. The couple had sought protection from threats by the girl’s parents and brother, and during an earlier hearing, the State Counsel had noted that the UCC required live-in partners to register their relationship. The petitioners’ counsel had agreed to comply with this requirement.
Advocate Mohd Matlub represented the petitioners, while Advocate General JS Virk and Advocate RK Joshi appeared for the State.
