Assam to Table UCC Bill May 26: Tribal Areas Excluded | CLAT 2027

CURRENT AFFAIRS | MAY 14, 2026

A day after being sworn in for his second term as Chief Minister, Himanta Biswa Sarma’s first Cabinet on May 13 cleared a draft Uniform Civil Code (UCC) Bill, to be tabled in the newly elected Assam Assembly on May 26 — the last working day of the session. The move, executed at lightning pace within 48 hours of the new government taking charge, makes Assam the second Indian state — after Uttarakhand (March 2024) — to formally legislate a state UCC. Crucially, tribal communities and areas governed by the Sixth Schedule will be entirely excluded from the Bill’s ambit.

The Assam Bill is modelled on Uttarakhand’s UCC Act, 2024 and is reported to cover four core subjects: a uniform minimum age of marriage, prohibition of polygamy, equal inheritance rights for daughters in parental property, and a registration regime for live-in relationships. CM Sarma told reporters the draft is “almost in sync with Gujarat, Uttarakhand and Goa”, but adds an Assam-specific safeguard — total exemption for both hill and plain tribes, plus customs, rituals and traditions of indigenous Assamese communities. This is significant: the Sixth Schedule autonomous councils of Bodoland Territorial Region, Karbi Anglong, and Dima Hasao are constitutionally insulated from the Bill.

The political timing is sharp: BJP’s 2026 Assam manifesto had bracketed UCC together with Article 371 protections — implicitly promising tribal autonomy would survive UCC implementation. By front-loading the Bill on Day 1 of his second term, Sarma is delivering on that promise even before the full Council of Ministers is expanded. The Bill will follow a fast-track legislative path: introduction, debate and passage all compressed into the May 16-26 session window, with newly elected MLAs taking oath through this period. Once passed, the Centre’s reserved-Bill assent procedure under Article 200 will determine the timeline to enforcement.