Gujarat Passes Uniform Civil Code (UCC) Bill, 2026

Gujarat Legislative Assembly passed the Uniform Civil Code (UCC) Bill, 2026, making it the second Indian state after Uttarakhand to enact a UCC.

About the Gujrat UCC Bill, 2026

Coverage: The code replaces diverse religious statutes with a standardised civil framework for marriage, divorce, and inheritance.
Gender Parity: It mandates that sons and daughters hold identical legal rights regarding the inheritance of all property.
Registration Deadline: All marriages must be officially registered within 60 days, and live-in relationships within 30 days.
Monogamous Mandate: The legislation strictly prohibits polygamy and bigamy, enforcing a one-spouse rule across all faith groups.
Judicial Exclusivity: All separations must be processed through civil courts, effectively abolishing all forms of out-of-court or customary divorce.
Tribal Exemption: The state’s Scheduled Tribes are exempted from the code’s application to protect their specific customary identities.

Constitutional Mandate: Article 44 of the Directive Principles of State Policy (DPSP) places a non-justiciable directive on the State to secure a uniform civil code nationwide.
Rights Conflict: UCC seeks to resolve the conflict between Article 25 (Religious Freedom) and Article 14 (Equality before Law) through uniform civil procedures.
Judicial Consistency: Courts have consistently endorsed a UCC from Shah Bano (1985) to recent 2026 rulings as central to secular national identity.
First State: Uttarakhand became the first state to pass its own UCC legislation in 2024.