Supreme Court Questions Relevance of Laws Penalizing Candidates with More Than Two Children
The Supreme Court has declared laws penalizing candidates with more than two children outdated, citing declining fertility rates in India.
New Delhi, November 4 (Daily Kiran) : The Supreme Court of India has ruled that laws disqualifying candidates with more than two children are no longer relevant. The court noted that the country’s fertility rate has been steadily declining, making these laws unjustifiable.
This decision came during a case concerning Mangala Bhimrao, a former village head from Maharashtra, who had been disqualified from running for election due to the birth of her third child. Justices P.S. Narasimha and Alok Aradhe emphasized that significant demographic changes over the last two decades have eliminated the fear of population explosion in India.
The court highlighted that the fertility rate has dropped from three children per woman to 1.9. As a result, the laws barring individuals from contesting elections based on the number of children they have are likely outdated. Consequently, the court halted ongoing proceedings against Bhimrao under Maharashtra law.
However, the Supreme Court has referred a previous ruling from 2003, known as the Javed case, to a larger bench for further review. This earlier decision upheld a provision in the Haryana Panchayati Raj Act of 1994, which disqualified individuals with more than two living children from contesting local elections.
The court remarked that when the Javed ruling was made, India’s fertility rate was approximately three children per woman, making population control a pressing policy issue. Since then, demographic indicators have shifted significantly, with fertility rates consistently declining across the nation.
