Uttarakhand waqf board bid to align nikahnama with UCC draws opposition
The Uttarakhand Waqf Board is preparing a revised nikahnama (Muslim marriage contract) that removes provision for a second, third, or fourth marriage, aligning the document with the state's Uniform Civil Code (UCC), which bans polygamy for all communities.
The revised nikahnama also proposes to end the practice of halala in the marriage documentation used within the state.
The Board is consulting Muslim clerics, legal experts, and members of the state's UCC drafting committee before finalising the document.
The move has drawn opposition from sections that regard the change as an intrusion into personal law matters, with some organisations indicating they intend to legally contest the broader UCC framework under which this change arises.
Uniform Civil Code of Uttarakhand Act, 2024 — First State-Level UCC
Uttarakhand became the first state in independent India to enact and implement a Uniform Civil Code, applicable to all residents of the state regardless of religion (with a specific exclusion for Scheduled Tribes, to protect customary tribal practices). The Act was passed by the state assembly in February 2024 and came into force from 27 January 2025.
Key Details
- Common provisions across religions: minimum marriage age of 21 for men and 18 for women, prohibition of bigamy/polygamy, and mandatory registration of marriages within 60 days (with a monetary penalty, not annulment, for non-registration)
- Live-in relationships must be registered with the state; failure to register can attract a jail term of up to three months, and children born from live-in relationships are recognised as legitimate
- Scheduled Tribes are excluded from the Act's applicability, preserving customary law protections
- The Uttarakhand UCC operates as state legislation under the Concurrent List (Entry 5, List III — marriage, divorce, and matters covered by personal law) alongside Article 44 of the Constitution (a Directive Principle urging a uniform civil code, non-justiciable)
The revised nikahnama is a direct implementation step of the UCC's polygamy ban — Waqf Boards, as bodies managing Muslim religious institutions, are adapting religious documentation to conform to the new secular civil law.
Article 44 — Directive Principle on Uniform Civil Code
Article 44, in Part IV of the Constitution, directs the State to "endeavour to secure for the citizens a uniform civil code throughout the territory of India." As a Directive Principle of State Policy, it is non-justiciable (Article 37) but has been invoked repeatedly by courts to urge legislative action.
The Waqf Board's nikahnama revision shows how a state-level UCC cascades into religious institutional practice, illustrating the practical effect of an otherwise non-justiciable constitutional directive once translated into binding state law.
Muslim Personal Law, Waqf Boards, and Polygamy Regulation
Under Muslim personal law as historically applied in India (via the Muslim Personal Law (Shariat) Application Act, 1937), matters of marriage, divorce, and succession for Muslims were governed by religious law rather than a common civil code. Polygamy (up to four wives, subject to conditions) and practices like halala (remarriage to the same divorced husband after an intervening marriage, associated with reversing triple talaq) were permitted or practised under this framework prior to the UCC.
Key Details
- Triple talaq (instant divorce) was already criminalised nationally under the Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Marriage) Act, 2019, following the Supreme Court's Shayara Bano v. Union of India (2017) verdict declaring instant triple talaq unconstitutional
- Waqf Boards are statutory bodies constituted under the Waqf Act, 1995 (as amended by the Waqf (Amendment) Act, 2025) to manage waqf properties (mosques, madrasas, graveyards, and other religious endowments) — their role in marriage documentation is a customary/administrative function, not a core statutory mandate
- A state UCC overrides the applicability of the 1937 Shariat Application Act within that state for matters it covers (marriage, divorce, succession, live-in relationships), to the extent of any inconsistency
The nikahnama change operationalises the UCC's supersession of Muslim personal law on polygamy within Uttarakhand, with the Waqf Board acting as the implementing religious institution rather than a lawmaking body.
- Uttarakhand UCC enacted: February 2024 (state assembly); enforced from 27 January 2025
- UCC marriage age: 18 years (women), 21 years (men); marriage registration required within 60 days
- UCC live-in relationship registration: mandatory; non-registration can attract up to 3 months' imprisonment
- Scheduled Tribes excluded from UCC applicability
- Triple talaq criminalised nationally: Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Marriage) Act, 2019, following Shayara Bano v. Union of India (2017)
- Constitutional basis for UCC: Article 44 (Directive Principle, Part IV, non-justiciable under Article 37)
- Pre-existing uniform civil code precedent in India: Goa (Portuguese Civil Code, retained since 1961 merger)
- Statutory basis for Waqf Boards: Waqf Act, 1995, as amended by the Waqf (Amendment) Act, 2025