Birth Of Third Child Automatically Disqualifies A Person To Contest In Panchayat Election: SC

Birth Of Third Child Automatically Disqualifies A Person To Contest In Panchayat Election: SC

The Supreme Court stated that a person, who has three children, is automatically restricted from contesting Panchayat Polls and such a person will also be disqualified from holding the post of a member or Pradhan in a Panchayat.

The petition was filled by Minasingh Majhi, a tribal Sarpanch in Odisha to avoid disqualification under the law as he has given away one of his children in adoption in order to stick to the two child rule.

Petitioner advocate Puneet Jain argued that he had given the first born in adoption in September 1999 and Hindu Adoption and Maintenance Act provides that once a child is given in adoption, that child ceases to be a member of the original family, his client remained qualify with the two- child rule to hold the post of sarpanch.

On  an argument the Court said, “The legislative intent is to restrict the number of births in a family and not on the basis of benefit available under the Hindu Adoption and Maintenance Act in regulating the number of children by giving the excess children in adoption.”

The petitioner advocate further argued that what about the parents of twins and triplets who accidentally becomes the father of two or three and would he then be disqualified from contesting panchayat elections or holding elected post.

In response to this argument, the court said that the findings does not apply in every case and of course, there will be rare incidents. Birth of twins and triplets is a rare phenomenon and the court would take an appropriate decision as and when such a case occurs.