The two-child norm in panchayath elections will not be applicable to certain candidates contesting in the upcoming panchayath elections in Uttarkhand said the High Court today.
Striking down the rule, the HC said the two-child norm in panchayat elections will not be applicable to candidates who have given birth to over two children before July 25 this year when the amendment in the Uttarakhand Panchayati Raj (Amendment) Act, regarding two-child policy that came into force on July 25, 2019.
A division bench comprising on chief justice Ramesh Ranganathan and justice Alok Kumar Verma on Friday disposed of seven petitions giving the order.
The order stated that “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 (Utrarakhand Panchayati Raj) 2016 Act came into force on 25.07.2019”
Section 8(1)(r), as inserted by the 2019 amendment in Uttarakhand Panchayati Raj Act 2016, stipulates that a person “shall be disqualified for being appointed, and for being a Pradhan, Up-Pradhan and a member of the Gram Panchayat, if he has more than two living children…”
The petitions were filed by aspirants who could not contest the panchayath elections after the new amendment came into force.
The state government this year had implemented the two-child policy and minimum educational qualification of class 10 criteria for aspiring candidates ahead of the panchayat elections in the state by making amendment in the Uttarakhand Panchayati Raj Act 2016.