The registration rules have drawn concern from live-in couples, regarding which Singh, in an interview to ThePrint Monday, said the “rules will make it easier for those in live-in relationships to get accommodation”. “Couples in such relationships living in other states will come to Uttarakhand for more safety and security.”
Singh, who was chief secretary of Uttarakhand, asserted that “many concerns raised against the UCC are not proper”.
“Although there is a 16-page form and a requirement of priest certification, it won’t take more than 15 minutes to fill the form for certification. Similarly, there are close relationships where marriage is prohibited and thus, a certification is needed from a religious leader,” he explained.
Singh spoke about the “background” in which registration of live-in relationships was made mandatory. “When we visited different regions to get feedback regarding implementation of the UCC, a few incidents of crime committed during live-in relationships were reported, and became national news,” he said.
Last week, Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami, while announcing the UCC’s implementation, had referred to the brutal 2022 murder of Shraddha Walkar, allegedly by her live-in partner Aftab.
Singh added: “It was discussed during the field trip that there should be a registration process for people in live-in relationships and their details should be in our database to ensure safety of women.”
Regarding criticism that the UCC rules had been framed to discourage live-in and interfaith relationships in the state, Singh asserted that “our effort is not to discourage people willing to go for a live-in relationship.”
“Such relationships can break in an arbitrary way any time. And in most cases, women don’t get justice as the society is male-dominated. So, the rights of women in live-in relationships have been protected more than the rights of men. Any children borne of such relationships will get the right of maintenance. The rules have been framed in favour of women,” he added.
When asked whether the UCC had been framed to target the Muslim community in the state, as was being alleged, Singh told ThePrint: “We have framed the law to bring uniformity in marriage and succession rules across religions. No developed society will allow women to face discrimination. The time has come for equality. Our broad plan was to empower women.”
For instance, he said, in the Hindu Marriage Act of 1955, there is a provision that if the husband finds that his wife has been pregnant from a previous relationship, he can break the marriage, but a similar provision has not been given to women.
“Under the UCC, we have framed the rule that if a husband is found to have made other women pregnant in past relationships, his wife has been given the right to nullify the marriage,” he added.
“In the same way, UCC rules have been framed not to discriminate against Muslims but to bring uniformity in laws for every community,” Singh asserted.
He also spoke of his time in the government while working with the late former prime ministers Atal Bihari Vajpayee and Manmohan Singh, and incumbent Narendra Modi.
Also Read: UCC was debated more in the Constituent Assembly than in Uttarakhand. Why it’s a problem
‘Certificate needed only for prohibited category’
The Uniform Civil Code of Uttarakhand Act, 2024, mentions 74 relationships, 37 each for men and women, in which marriage or live-in relationships are not allowed.
Singh explained that the clause on prohibitions in relationships had been taken from the Hindu Marriage Act. “Under the Act, marriage is prohibited under certain close relationships, and it is so in other religions too, like you can’t marry your own sister, mother, daughter-in-law, etc. Similarly, live-in ties have been prohibited in these relationships,” he said.
“However, in some communities or religions, there is a custom of marriage in a few close relationships, like among Muslims. Now, the question is who will certify whether the live-in relationship (in these close relations) is permitted or not? If it is left to government officials, more trouble will erupt. So, certification of such rare cases falling in the prohibited category will be made from a religious leader,” he added, saying that “in Uttarakhand, such cases don’t make up even 1 percent of relationships”.
Another criticism is that registration of live-in relationships requires a 16-page form and Aadhar-linked-OTP, details of marital or other relationships prior to onset of the current one, and documents such as final decree of divorce. It is believed that such requirements will make interfaith relationships and marriage almost impossible.
“One concern is about the long process of registration, but there are several options for filling the form and once you start filling it, only three or four main details have been asked, such as name, date of birth, address, past history of relationships and if they have a child from a previous relationship,” said Singh.
He also dismissed concerns over infringement of privacy, pointing out that the main problem live-in couples face was of accommodation as they live away from parents. “They search for rented accommodation and we have made rules to provide a provisional certificate for house owners so that they can’t refuse such couples, and responsibility has been fixed on the owner of the house to inform the authorities about it. This way, the safety of women can be ensured.”
“We are confident that trust will come and when they (live-in couples) are sure that nobody is looking into their bedroom, then other couples in such relationships will want to come and live in Uttarakhand for safety reasons,” Singh told ThePrint.
When it was pointed out that the rights of women in live-in relationships had been ensured but those of men had been left out, the former bureaucrat said that traditionally, society has been male-dominated and thus rules had been framed now in favour of women.
‘Manmohan Singh’s integrity was unmatched’
Shatrughan Singh recounted his memories of working in the PMO led by Manmohan Singh.
“T.K.A. Nair was principal secretary and I was joint secretary. Jairam Ramesh was the environment minister and later Jayanthi Natarajan took over the charge. That time, a huge agitation was going on over several issues, environmental clearance and land acquisition were creating controversy. PM Manmohan Singh asked us not to lower the country’s development pace and growth at any cost,” he told ThePrint.
“Manmohan Singh’s knowledge and integrity towards the country were unmatched. Not only on economy, his knowledge on foreign policy was unmatched and greater than that of many foreign service officers. His integrity was unmatched,” he asserted.
On working with Vajpayee, Singh said he was a “statesman and I learnt a lot from him”.
“I was a director in the cabinet secretariat. A dialogue was going on between two communities to resolve (Ayodhya) issue. I recall one incident… The Vishva Hindu Parishad had called for taking bricks to the disputed site in Ayodhya. Since I had worked as commissioner of Faizabad and was known to both sides, there was apprehension of repeat of 1992 (violence post demolition of the Babri Masjid) and the VHP was adamant about its call,” he explained.
“Atal ji called me and said ‘there should not be violence at any cost and the country’s interest is most important’. He could have asked me to help out one side but his word was to not allow anyone to violate the status quo. Such was his greatness and commitment towards the country,” he added.
Sharing his experience of working with Modi, the 1983-batch IAS officer, who was additional secretary of commerce and industry in Modi’s first term, said the PM came to Delhi and wanted to understand every ministry and asked the persons concerned to give presentations.
“In the short time I worked with him, knowing about his attachment towards the river Ganga, which I had got to know from his speeches, I made one presentation about cleaning the Ganga. One day, Uma Bharati, who was water resources minister, frantically called me, asking ‘where are you, the prime minister was praising you for your Ganga presentation’,” he recalled.
“She told me that there was a meeting on the Ganga and everyone was giving their inputs to the PM. He said there is one additional secretary who knows more about the Ganga than you people. Go and consult him,” Singh said, recounting the praise he had received from Modi.
(Edited by Nida Fatima Siddiqui)
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