New Delhi: Couples in live-in relationships will now be legally required to file a “declaration of live-in relationship” with the registrar within one month of starting to live together, says the draft of the Uniform Civil Code (UCC) Bill, which was approved by the Madhya Pradesh cabinet on Sunday (July 19), reported Indian Express.The draft UCC Bill in Madhya Pradesh also bans polygamy and criminalises practices such as triple talaq. Couples in live-in relationships who don’t declare their status can face potential imprisonment, says the draft UCC approved by the government.As per the draft Bill, if a partner is under 21 years, information about the “start and end of the live-in relationship will have to be sent to their parents/guardians”. The local police station will also get this record from the registrar.The Indian Express report added that the penalties proposed in the draft Bill for couples who violate these conditions include three months’ imprisonment or a fine of Rs 10,000 for not registering the declaration within a month, three months’ imprisonment for giving false information along with a fine of Rs 25,000, and failing to file the declaration even after a registrar’s notice can attract up to 6 months’ imprisonment and a fine of Rs 25,000.The Bill also has provisions to consider children born of a live-in relationship to have full inheritance rights.According to the Bill, if the male partner in the relationship deserts the woman, she “can claim maintenance through a competent court just as a legal wife would.It also says that oral divorce or decisions by informal panchayats are “declared entirely illegal”. As per the Bill, a marriage can now be dissolved only on the clear, statutory grounds specified in law.“Accepting, promoting, or forcing degrading or humiliating conditions such as ‘nikah halala’ for remarriage to the same spouse after divorce will be treated as a punishable criminal offence,” says the Bill.The Bill also says that once it is made into a law, it would not apply to Scheduled Tribes (ST) covered under Articles 342 and 366(25) of the Constitution (such as Bhil, Gond, Korku, Baiga, Sahariya and Bharia). Madhya Pradesh has a large tribal population.The draft law is expected to be introduced in the Madhya Pradesh Assembly during the Monsoon Session beginning Monday (July 20).