Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh): Mandatory registration of live-in relationships and a share in children's property for both parents are among the key recommendations in the Uniform Civil Code (UCC) draft, submitted to the Madhya Pradesh government on Monday.
The draft, based on the Gujarat model, includes provisions relating to marriage, maintenance, divorce and the property rights of adopted children.
The high-level committee constituted to examine the feasibility of implementing the UCC submitted the final draft to the state government on Monday evening.
It makes registration of live-in relationships mandatory. If a live-in relationship is not registered, it will be considered a crime.
A major recommendation relates to succession law, under which, along with the mother, the father will also be entitled to a share in the property of a son if the latter dies.
Currently, only the mother is considered eligible for a share in a deceased son's property, which is also divided equally among the deceased's wife and children.
In other words, the mother and father have been made a single unit for claiming a share in the property of their children.
This, according to the proposal, will help address situations in which fathers received nothing in old age following the death of a son. In effect, parents have been entitled to a share in the property of their children.
The UCC final draft has been prepared in three parts. The first part includes the UCC committee's recommendations, the second contains the UCC Bill and the third embodies public opinion collected at three stages, including district-level and state-level consultations, along with suggestions received through the website.
Under the proposed registration of live-in relationships, one copy of the registration will go to the concerned police station and another to the parents.
Children born out of a live-in relationship will be entitled to a share in their parents' property even if the partners separate.
If a partner deserts the woman in a live-in relationship, she may seek maintenance from the partner. Without registration, a live-in relationship will be considered a crime.
Bill to be tabled in monsoon Assembly session
The UCC Bill is expected to be tabled during the Assembly session beginning on July 20. After its passage in the Assembly, it will be sent to the President for assent.
The state government will then frame the rules under the new law. Madhya Pradesh will become the fourth state to implement the UCC after Uttarakhand, Gujarat and Assam.
Key features
Mandatory registration of live-in relationships.
Unregistered live-in relationships to be treated as an offence
Both mother and father to get a share in a deceased child's property
Children born from live-in relationships to have equal inheritance rights
Women deserted in a live-in relationship to be entitled to claim maintenance.
Provisions covering marriage, divorce, maintenance
Property rights of adopted children covered
