Assam plans to introduce stringent rules on polygamy, UCC, says CM Himanta Biswa Sarma

Assam Chief Minister Dr. Himanta Biswa Sarma announced his government's intention to introduce strong legislation aimed at banning polygamy and implementing the Uniform Civil Code (UCC). This move is seen as a significant step towards ensuring uniformity in the legal system across all communities within the state.

“Assam cabinet (on Saturday) has discussed both UCC and polygamy Bill. We were following (a legislation to ban) polygamy, but Uttarakhand has passed the UCC (Bill). We are now working on alligning both (issues) so that we can prepare a robust legislation. We are working on that,” said Sarma.

Addressing the media in Guwahati during the state assembly's ongoing budget session, Sarbananda Sonowal stated that the government, initially considering legislation to prohibit polygamy, is now contemplating aligning the matter with the Uniform Civil Code (UCC) following Uttarakhand's recent legislation on the same issue.

Sonowal stated that a specialized committee will examine potential approaches to incorporate polygamy and the Uniform Civil Code (UCC) into a unified piece of legislation.

“The UCC (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 an uniform policy, we are going to align these. For that I will have a round with our central leadership on which direction we should go,” said Sarma.

He stated that the state cabinet, in its meeting on Sunday, resolved to bring forth a law prohibiting the practice of faith healing by healers.

“This is a very dicey subject, which is used to convert tribal people. We are going to pilot this Bill (banning healing), because we believe the religious status quo is very important,” said the CM.

“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 and this Bill will be a very important milestone,” he added.

On Saturday, the Uttarakhand government constituted a nine-member committee tasked with drafting the rules for the recently passed Uttarakhand Uniform Civil Code Bill 2024 in the assembly. The Uniform Civil Code (UCC) encompasses a uniform set of laws intended to encompass customary laws across various faiths and tribes. It aims to regulate matters like marriage, divorce, inheritance, and maintenance. In the Constitution, UCC falls under the non-justiciable directive principles of State policy.

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