India, Jan. 31 -- The first uniform civil code in independent India could have been an opportunity to showcase a progressive template for other states. It ought to have restricted itself to marriage, divorce, maintenance, adoption and inheritance-areas governed by personal laws that create discrepancy among citizens. Instead, the state of Uttarakhand has taken on the role of Morality Police by inserting a clause that requires couples cohabitating together to register on an online portal.

There's a 16-page form, liability on landlords and certification by a religious leader that the couple is eligible to marry should they so desire. It's an odd requirement for a law that is supposedly secular. Interfaith couples who already find it tough ...