Uttarakhand Assembly clears amendments to UCC and anti-conversion Bills, new minority education law

The Hindu

14 hours ago

The Uttarakhand Assembly cleared nine Bills amid uproar on Wednesday (August 20, 2025), including amendments to controversial Bills on the Uniform Civil Code (UCC) and religious conversion, and an equally controversial legislation related to minority education.
Among the Bills passed in the Assembly session held at Gairsain, the summer capital of Uttarakhand, was the Uniform Civil Code (Amendment) Bill, 2025, which increases punishments with regard to illegal live-in relationships. The amendment to Section 380(2) says a married person entering a live-in relationship can be punished with jail term of up to seven years and fine. The government has also amended sub-sections of Section 387 which now says getting into a relationship by force, pressure or fraud will attract imprisonment of up to seven years and fine.
The time limit for marriage registration, which needed to be done in six months, was extended to one year. A new Section was also inserted into the UCC. Under Section 390-A, the Registrar-General will have the power to cancel any registration related to marriage, divorce, live-in relationship or inheritance.
The Freedom of Religion and Prohibition of Unlawful Conversion (Amendment) Bill, 2025, allows jail sentences ranging from three years to life term for persons found guilty of 'forced conversions'. Previously, the maximum jail term for a 'forced conversion' was 10 years. The Bill defines 'allurement' as 'any gift, gratification, easy money or material benefit, whether in cash or kind, employment, or by invoking divine displeasure'. Human trafficking and making threats to life attract sentences ranging from 20 years to life term under the 2025 Bill.
Accused can also be booked for 'false promises of marriage' under the Bill. Hiding one's religion with the intention of marriage will attract imprisonment of three to 10 years, and a fine of ₹3 lakh. Speaking ill of one religion and praising another, and propaganda on social or digital media, will also be considered as participation in religious conversion.
The government faced maximum opposition when passing the Minority Educational Institutions Bill, 2025, which extends the benefits of minority status to educational institutions of Sikh, Jain, Christian, Parsi, and Buddhist communities. With the passage of the Bill, all madrasas running in the State will have to seek affiliation from the Uttarakhand Education Board by July 1, 2026, and then apply for minority status with the Uttarakhand State Authority for Minority Education (USAME). Only if the necessary conditions are fulfilled will the institutions be granted minority educational status and unrecognised madrasas will be shut down.
The government, however, deleted an earlier proposal on the request of Kashipur MLA Trilok Singh Cheema, who had sought the removal of the 15% reservation cap for non-minority students in educational institutions run by minorities.
Apart from these, the Assembly also cleared the Supplementary Appropriation Bill, 2025; Uttarakhand-Uttar Pradesh Shri Badrinath and Shri Kedarnath Temples (Amendment) Bill, 2025; Uttarakhand Private Universities (Amendment) Bill, 2025; Uttarakhand Witness Protection Repeal Bill, 2025; Uttarakhand Panchayati Raj (Amendment) Bill, 2025; and Uttarakhand Loktantra Senani Samman Bill, 2025.
The five-day Assembly session, which started on August 19, ended sine die within two days, amid protests by the Opposition leaders who demanded a debate on disaster management issues and law and order in the State under Rule 310. The demands were made citing the recent flash flood in Dharali, where around 68 people went missing and the alleged abduction of five of Congress members during recently held panchyat election.
Chief Minister Pushkar Dhami presented the supplementary budget of ₹5,315.89 crore during the three-hour session on Wednesday (August 20, 2025).