the story So Far: on 21st July 2026 Madhya Pradesh Assembly Passed a bill to bring Uniform Civil Code (UCC) in the state Amidst the uproar of the opposition, by voice vote Congress. The Madhya Pradesh Uniform Civil Code 2026 Bill was introduced on the first day of the monsoon session of the Assembly a day after getting approval from Chief Minister Mohan Yadav’s cabinet.
on the lines of others Bharatiya Janata Party– Governing states Uttarakhand, Gujarat and Assam that have already implemented the UCC, the Madhya Pradesh Bill also has provisions to regulate areas of personal law: marriage, divorce, succession and inheritance, and live-in relationships. According to the government, the bill was prepared after a thorough study and guidance of the uniform civil codes of the three states.
It mainly proposes to criminalize practices like polygamy Nikah HalalaWhereas registration of live-in relationships has also been made mandatory.
Similarly, it also exempts the state’s large tribal population covered under Articles 342 and 366 (section 25) of the Constitution, whose customary laws are protected under the Constitution.
For months, Mr Yadav had been personally overseeing the work of drafting a bill, a task which in April was assigned to a six-member committee headed by retired Supreme Court judge Justice Ranjana Prakash Desai.
What are the keys to marriage and divorce?
Marriage: The Bill makes it mandatory to register marriages and divorces and annulments in all communities within 60 days of the incident through the government portal MP e-Municipality Portal in urban areas and sub-divisional magistrate (SDM), municipal body or panchayat in rural areas. Its objective is to ensure marital rights, subsistence allowance and various legal protections to women. Although failure to register a marriage will not invalidate it, the registrar may impose a fine if there is no valid reason.
Marriage registration is also valid under the Madhya Pradesh Compulsory Marriage Registration Rules, 2008. This bill completely bans the practice of polygamy and makes monogamy mandatory in all communities. A person can only be married to one living spouse at a time.
It also bans Muslim practice Nikah HalalaUnder which a divorced woman is required to marry another man and obtain a divorce from her former husband before she can remarry, and is a punishable criminal offence.
Divorce: The Bill also states that marriages can be dissolved only through legal process and on clear and legal grounds such as oral practices triple talaq Or informal Panchayat decision invalid.
The bill also provides women with special rights to seek divorce on grounds such as the husband being guilty of rape after marriage or detection of an existing spouse. If the partner has changed his religion then the spouse can also ask for divorce.
Under the bill, a woman can also seek to have the marriage declared void if her husband has impregnated another woman. The legal age of marriage for men and women remains unchanged at 21 and 18 years, respectively.
The Bill completely abolishes the term ‘illegitimate’ for children and says that children born to married or unmarried parents, whether biological, adopted, adopted through surrogacy or assisted reproductive technology (ART), will enjoy equal legal status.
What does it say on live-in relationships?
The Bill makes it mandatory for couples living together in Madhya Pradesh, whether they are residents of the state or not, to submit a ‘Declaration of their live-in relationship’ with the local registrar within a month of starting to live together.
A Madhya Pradesh resident who is in a live-in relationship outside the state can also give the declaration form to the registrar of his native place.
Under the Bill, if either partner is below 21 years of age, information about the commencement and termination of the live-in relationship will be sent to their parents or guardians. The registrar will also send this record to the local police station.
The bill also states that children born from live-in relationships will be considered legitimate and will receive full inheritance. If the male partner leaves the woman, the UCC provides her with the right to claim maintenance through a competent court like a legal wife.
The bill also makes strict provisions on failure to register the relationship within a month and says it can result in imprisonment of up to three months or a fine of ₹10,000. Providing false information can lead to imprisonment of up to three months and a fine of ₹25,000. Failure to provide details after receiving notice from the Registrar can lead to imprisonment of up to six months and a fine of ₹25,000.
What are the major provisions on succession and succession?
The bill paves the way for gender-neutral inheritance laws as it provides equal rights to sons and daughters irrespective of their marital status. Widows and widowers will also be treated equally in the deceased’s estate.
It provides equal shares in the property to both the parents along with the spouse and children of the deceased.
However, the Bill gives complete freedom to an adult person of sound mind to give away all his property (both self-acquired and inherited) to anyone through a will, thereby eliminating any compulsory inheritance limits like in Islamic law, where a person can only bequeath a maximum of one-third of his property and the remaining two-thirds must be divided among the mandatory legal heirs.
Who is exempt from the bill?
About 21% of the Scheduled Tribe population of Madhya Pradesh has been exempted from the bill, leaving them free to practice their customary rights and traditional practices.
Apart from them, communities whose traditional rights are protected under Part XXI of the Constitution are also specifically exempted from the scope of the law.
What is the political importance of the bill?
The move to exempt tribals is important for the ruling BJP because of the electoral importance of the communities spread across different regions of the state.
Of the 230 assembly seats in the state, 47 are reserved for Scheduled Tribes (ST), along with six of the 29 Lok Sabha seats. Barring the 2018 assembly elections, the BJP has maintained an edge over the Congress in tribal areas, with the ruling party currently holding 28 of the 47 ST-reserved seats.
While Madhya Pradesh has become the fourth state of independent India to bring in the UCC after Uttarakhand in 2024 and Gujarat and Assam earlier this year, several other BJP-ruled states are also currently working to bring in a law, with the party finally going ahead with one of its main agendas which is often said to be aimed at eliminating various practices of the Muslim community.
The Uniform Civil Code is in force in Goa since the Portuguese Civil Code was in force during the Portuguese rule.
While the MP government had constituted the panel in April, Chief Minister Mohan Yadav had started raising the issue through his statements before introducing the bill in the Assembly.
Mr Yadav, in his addresses across the state, said that “If (Lord) Ram will marry Mary once, why should Rahim marry four times?” While also calling Muslim women as their sisters. He also accused the opposition Congress of appeasing the Muslim community by opposing the UCC.
What are the objections of Congress?
While most of the top Congress leaders in the state maintained silence on the issue, its two Muslim MLAs – Arif Masood and Atif Akil, both from Bhopal – inside and outside the Assembly accused the government of targeting the Muslim community through the bill.
While its leader of opposition Umang Singhar accused the BJP government of “running away from real issues and imposing RSS agenda”. During the discussion in the House, Mr Masood objected to the bill to bring matrimonial disputes from civil matters to criminal offences.
“The way you have kept STs out of it, Article 29 gives protection to the minority Muslim community that they should be allowed to live with their constitutional rights. Whatever religious things they have, they should be allowed to practice them,” he said.
Mr Masood also objected to the process of taking public opinion on the matter, for which the government had created a portal.
“There were around 2,200 comments on the website, which is why the deadline was extended by a week. Then within the same week, the figure reached the lakhs that you (the government) are mentioning – how did this happen?” Masood Saheb had asked.
His demand to send the bill to a select committee for amendments was rejected. The bill is currently awaiting the consent of Government Mangubhai Patel for implementation.
