Supreme Court Refers Statutory Two-Child Disqualification Provisions to Larger Bench
The Supreme Court on Wednesday referred the constitutional validity of laws that disqualify candidates with more than two children from contesting local government elections to a larger bench. The matter arose out of a challenge directed against provisions in Maharashtra municipal and panchayat statutes that bar individuals with over two children from civic posts. The bench remarked that such statutory restrictions may have lost their socio-demographic rationale in contemporary India. The court noted that population dynamics and total fertility rates across the country have steadily moderated over recent decades. The judges observed that statutory exclusions directly touch upon reproductive autonomy and bodily integrity guaranteed under Article 21 of the Constitution. Counsel representing the petitioners argued that penalizing parents disproportionately impacts women and socially marginalized groups in rural belts. The state administration maintained that the policies were intended to encourage voluntary family planning norms through statutory incentives. The bench pointed out that older judicial precedents validating these quotas require comprehensive reconsideration under expanded privacy and bodily autonomy jurisprudence. The matter has now been placed before the Chief Justice of India for the constitution of a three-judge or larger bench to examine the issue systematically. Several legal observers pointed out that the eventual verdict could set a precedent affecting multiple states that enforce similar disqualification clauses for grassroots democratic representatives.
The Radius News summarizes this story. Read the original report at the link below.
