Two-Child Norm for Local Body Polls Has Lost Relevance, Says Supreme Court; Refers Issue to Larger Bench
Citing India’s falling fertility rate, the Supreme Court said laws barring people with more than two children from contesting panchayat polls need a fresh look and sent its 2003 Javed ruling to a larger bench.
The Supreme Court has said that laws which disqualify people with more than two children from contesting local body elections appear to have lost their relevance, because the population concerns behind them have changed sharply over the past two decades.
A bench of Justice PS Narasimha and Justice Alok Aradhe referred the court’s 2003 decision in Javed v State of Haryana to a larger bench for reconsideration. In that case, a three-judge bench had upheld a provision of the Haryana Panchayati Raj Act, 1994, which barred candidates with more than two living children from panchayat polls.
The fertility argument
The bench noted that India’s total fertility rate has dropped from about 3 in 2003 to around 1.9 now, below the replacement level of 2.1 at which a generation replaces itself. While the population is not yet shrinking, the court said this trend points towards an ageing society with a smaller share of working-age people, and that ignoring such a shift could have serious consequences for the country.
The judges also voiced concern that continuing such disqualifications shuts out an entire class of citizens from local democratic office.
Relief for former sarpanch
In the same ruling, the court set aside the disqualification of Mangala Bhimrao, a former sarpanch of the Kakoda Gram Panchayat in Maharashtra. She had been disqualified under Section 14(1)(j-1) of the Maharashtra Village Panchayat Act, 1959, after the birth of her third child. The two-child limit in that law has applied since an amendment that came into force on 13 September 2000.
What happens next
Several states have similar two-child rules for panchayat and municipal elections. Until a larger bench decides the question, those laws remain on the statute books, though the court’s observations give fresh grounds to those questioning them.
— Legal Desk
Featured image: Photo: Pinakpani, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
Sources
Related
Bengaluru–Goa Vande Bharat Gets Railway Board Nod: 13-Hour Run via Mangaluru, Timings and Stops
CAT 2026 Admit Card Out on iimcat.ac.in: How to Download, Exam on 29 November
