SC Questions Constitutionality of Two-Child Norm for Panchayat Elections
Judgment dated of the Supreme Court in SLP (Civil) No.30772 of 2025 of Mangala Bhimrao Ingle Vs. The Additional Commissioner, Amravati Division and others
The Appellant’s election as Sarpanch of Kakoda Gram Panchayat was set aside on the ground that she was disqualified from contesting panchayat elections because she had more than two children and it is in violation of Section 14(1)(j-1) of the Maharashtra Village Panchayats Act, 1959.
t was found that the appellant gave birth to a third child in 2014 but contested and got elected as Sarpanch of the Gram Panchayat in the 2022 elections.
We have revisited the legality, propriety, as well as constitutional morality of the statutory provision imposing certain drastic disabilities and disqualifications for bearing more than two children. When this Court upheld it in Javed, it was under an assumption that “population explosion” is an “impediment” for “progress”. Today, after more than two decades the very formulation of the policy, coupled with reasons for repelling its challenge, have collapsed. Even if the law was legal and valid at the time of its making, it has become invalid as the foundation on which it rested has changed.
(2003) 8 SCC 369
