The Supreme Court on Monday dismissed a public interest litigation that sought a direction to political parties disallowing those with more than two children from contesting elections, PTI reported.
The plea, filed by lawyer Ashwini Upadhyay, sought to declare a two-child norm for government jobs, subsidies and other aids. It also sought that non-compliance of the norm should lead to the withdrawal of citizens’ statutory rights, including right to vote and contest elections. Upadhyay said the two-child norm could be inserted as a restriction in the Election Symbols Order of 1968.
“How can a constitutional court say that if you have more than two children, you can’t contest Assembly elections?” the bench comprising Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi and Justice Sanjiv Khanna said, according to Live Law. “Apart from the issues of propriety, legality and jurisdiction, is it a proportionate judicial order?”
Upadhyay told the court that two judges in Madhya Pradesh were terminated because they have three children. In September 2017, the Madhya Pradesh High Court had dismissed two trainee lower court judges for having more than two children, violating the state government’s rules under the Madhya Pradesh Civil Services (General condition of Services) Rules, 1961.
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