[dropcap]A[/dropcap] two-judge bench of the Supreme Court comprising Chief Justice of India (CJI) Ranjan Gogoi and Justice Sanjiv Khanna today, February 25, 2019 dismissed a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) filed by BJP leader Ashwini Kumar Upadhyay seeking direction from the Court to all the political parties requiring them to not field a candidate to contest election if he/she has more than two children.
In addition, the PIL also prayed for a declaration that two-child norm be a mandatory criterion for government jobs, subsidies, besides other measures to control the population.
CJI Gogoi remarked: “How can a constitutional court say that if you have more than two children, you are debarred from contesting an election. Would it be a proportionate order?”
Unimpressed with the PIL, CJI Gogoi proceeded to dismiss it. However, at the end of the board, Upadhyay mentioned before CJI that his representation on the two-child policy is pending with Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) and ECI, therefore, he be allowed to withdraw the petition else the authorities would be hesitant in examining the representation in view of the dismissal order. CJI, accordingly, dismissed the same as withdrawn.
