The Assam Government is mulling to bring a stringent legislation that will align the issue of polygamy with Uniform Civil Code or UCC, aptly known as Common Civil Code or CCC in the State, mentioned Chief Minister Dr Himanta Biswa Sarma on the sidelines of the budget session of the State Assembly in Guwahati on Monday.
Monitoring the situation in Uttarakhand after the State enacted CCC legislation last week, the CM mentioned, “Assam cabinet (on Saturday) has discussed both CCC and Polygamy Bill. We were following (a legislation to ban) polygamy, but Uttarakhand has passed the UCC (Bill). We are now working on aligning both (issues) so that we can prepare a robust legislation. We are working on that.”
CM Himanta indicated that an expert committee would be tasked with devising a strategy to complement the polygamy ban with the principles outlined in the CCC legislation.
Further elucidating on different approach, the Assam CM stated, “The CCC (legislation passed by Uttarakhand) is banning polygamy while making it a civil offence. We were thinking of making polygamy a criminal offence. Since the country needs a uniform policy, we are going to align these” adding that the State Government requires consultations with the Central leadership to determine the direction of the legislation.
Mentioning about the State Cabinet’s decision to introduce a legislation outlawing the practice of healing, he termed the issue “a very dicey subject” which is misused by the healers “to convert tribal people”. Subsequently, the government will pilot the Assam Healing (Prevention of Evil) Practices Bill “because we believe the religious status quo is very important”.
Hailing the Bill as “a very important milestone”, the CM continued, “Whoever is Muslim, should remain Muslim, whoever is Christian, should remain Christian and whoever is Hindu, let them remain Hindu so that a proper balance can be achieved in our State. We want to curb evangelism in Assam.”
The Uttarakhand Government constituted a nine-member committee for preparing the draft of rules for the Uttarakhand Common Civil Code Bill 2024, which was passed in the Assembly previous week.
The CCC refers to a common set of laws dealing with customary laws across faiths and tribes and governing components such as marriage, divorce, inheritance and maintenance. In the Constitution, it is a part of the non-justiciable directive principles of the State policy.
