New Delhi, October 12
The Supreme Court has reiterated its ruling upholding the ban on contesting local body elections by persons with more than two children by the Haryana Government, saying the law in this regard had already been laid down earlier when the state had imposed a similar ban on contesting the panchayat elections.
A three-Judge Bench comprising Chief Justice R. C. Lahoti, Mr Justice G. P. Mathur and Mr Justice P. K. Balasubramanyan said the apex court had in the Javed case clearly laid down that a state government was competent enough to enact a legislation to impose such a ban in the national interest to check the “menace” of growing population.
Dismissing an appeal by Mr Zile Singh, a resident of Haryana, challenging the validity of the Haryana Municipal (Amendment) Act, 1994, inserting Section 13A in its Chapter III, which bars a person with more than two children from contesting local body elections, the court said: “It is in the national interest to check the growth of population by casting disincentives even through the legislation.”
“The court has been at pains to point out (in its earlier decision) how the growth of population of India was alarming and posed a menace to be checked,” the Bench said.
Mr Zile Singh had filed an appeal against the Punjab and Haryana High Court order dismissing his petition on the issue. The High Court had disqualified his municipality membership for having more than two children from two marriages.
Upholding the High Court decision, the apex court said the “appeal is wholly devoid of any merit” as the legislative competence of the state in such matters was not disputed.
The court said contesting an election “is neither a fundamental right nor a common law right. It is a right conferred by a statute. The statue which confers the right to contest election can also provide for the necessary qualifications and disqualifications for holding an elective office.”
It said there was nothing wrong in the Haryana Government brining about an amendment in 1994 in the Haryana Municipal Act, 1973, putting a bar from a specified cut-off date.
