The bizarre provisions of Part-3 on “Live In Relationship” compel me to pen these thoughts without awaiting a full study of all the other provisions of the Code!
Section 378 of the UCC makes it “obligatory” for partners in a live-in relationship, whether residents of the State or not, to submit a “statement of live-in relationship” to the jurisdictional registrar.
Bizarrely, the law also requires Uttarakhand residents who were “staying in a live in relationship” outside the State to submit such statement before the registrar “within whose jurisdiction such resident(s) ordinarily resides.”
If the shoddy drafting is momentarily overlooked, given that one state law cannot impose an obligation on officers of another state, perhaps the intention is to refer to the registrar within whose jurisdiction the permanent home of the non-resident is located.
However, the law does not address the situation when the resident does not “ordinarily” reside in Uttarakhand at all. This is an issue which will already generate much bread and butter for lawyers in the coming times. Keep in mind that a “resident” is defined by the UCC as a:
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Person eligible for permanent residency
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Permanent employee of the State government or its undertakings
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Permanent employee of the Central government employed withing the State
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Resident of the State for not less than one year
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Beneficiary of a State scheme or a Central scheme applicable to the State.
Thus, a resident of Delhi, if permanently employed by the Uttarakhand Bhawan in the national capital, would, by this definition, be deemed a “resident” and have the UCC made applicable to her even if she has never set foot in the State!
Similarly, if a member of the paramilitary force or the armed forces or the central intelligence is posted or stationed in Uttarakhand, even if the spouse is away in his or her home state, such person would be covered by such an open-ended definition! The period of such deployment is irrelevant as it is not linked to the one-year residence in the state, which by itself is an independent factor to be categorized as a “resident”.
Source: Barandbench
