India, Feb. 3 -- The Uniform Civil Code (UCC) of Uttarakhand, which was recently brought into force, is a bulky enactment comprising 392 sections, seven schedules and multiple forms. Nearly 80% of its bulk contains procedural provisions relating to the registration of marriages, divorces and live-in relationships, execution and interpretation of wills, and administration of deceased persons' estates. Its substantive principles, though not many, are replete with significant implications of far-reaching consequences.

The basic rules of matrimonial law spelt out in Part I of the code seem to have been drawn from a combined reading of parallel provisions under the Special Marriage Act and the Hindu Marriage Act of 1954-55. The provisions of ...