The Hindu : SC reserves verdict on two-child norm

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Friday, Jul 18, 2003

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SC reserves verdict on two-child norm

By J. Venkatesan

NEW DELHI July 17. The Supreme Court today reserved judgment on over 200 petitions challenging the validity of a Haryana legislation providing for the disqualification of a member to become a sarpanch or upsarpanch if he/she had more than two children.

A three-judge Bench, comprising Justice R.C. Lahoti, Justice Ashok Bhan and Justice Arun Kumar, reserved judgment at the conclusion of arguments from the petitioners, the Attorney-General, Soli J Sorabjee, and the Haryana Government.

Under the Haryana Panchayat Raj Act, a person with more than two children cannot contest the election and if a person begets a third child while holding the post, he/she has to demit office.

On behalf of the petitioners it was argued that the provision providing for such a disqualification was unconstitutional and it encroached upon the basic right of Muslims to have more than two children. They also said that the Quran prohibited Muslims from practising family planning and hence the provision was violative of their fundamental right to practice and profess a religion.

The Attorney-General, however, submitted that the petitioners had not produced any material from the Quran to show that it was obligatory on the part of Muslims to produce more than two children. He pointed out that having four wives was only optional. The State Government had the legislative competence to enact the law, put in place with the laudable objective of controlling the population by making the sarpanchs as role models for implementing the law.

Senior counsel for Haryana, P.P. Rao, stated that the law was not discriminatory as it was applicable to all persons irrespective of sex, caste and creed.

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