Parents with more than 2 children can contest panchayat polls, rules Uttarakhand HC

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In a setback to the state government, the Uttarakhand High Court on Thursday allowed parents with more than two children before July 25, 2019, to contest the panchayat elections.

Hearing on a petition filed by Panchayat Janadhikar Manch, a division bench of Justices Ramesh Ranganathan and Alok Kumar Verma modified a law framed by the state government, which disqualified parents with more than two children to contest panchayat polls.

The bench ruled that the law would apply only to the people who became parents of a third child or more after July 25 this year.

"The challenge, to the constitutional validity of the newly inserted Section 10-C of the 2019 Amendment to the 2016 Act, must fail. Section 8(1)(r) shall be read down as a disqualification, from contesting elections to Panchayati Raj Institutions, only to those who give birth to a third child or more after the 2019 Amendment to the 2016 Act came into force on 25.07.2019," the court order reads.

The court in its order observed: "It would be clear that Section 8(1)(r) of the 2019 Act is unreasonable as it seeks to punish those, who already have more than two children, by disqualifying them from contesting elections, and it does not act as a disincentive in preventing population growth."

The state government had on July 26 this year amended Uttarakhand Panchayati Raj Act, 2016 making it impossible for the parents with more than two children to contest the panchayat polls. The panchayat elections are scheduled to begin from October 6 in the state.