NEW DELHI: More than 21 years after upholding validity of the mandatory ‘
two-child norm
‘ eligibility criteria for candidates contesting panchayat polls, the
Supreme Court
has now put its stamp of approval on an identical norm for
public employment
, debarring candidates who have more than two children from seeking govt jobs.
A bench of Justices Surya Kant, Diapankar Datta and K V Vishwanathan dismissed the appeal filed by ex-serviceman Ram Lal Jat, who had retired from service in 2017 and had applied for a constable’s post in Rajasthan Police on May 25, 2018.
His candidature was rejected as Rule 24(4) of Rajasthan Police Subordinate Service Rules, 1989 that followed the norm set under the Rajasthan Various Service (Amendment) Rules, 2001, which provides that “no candidate shall be eligible for appointment to the job who has more than two children on or after June 1, 2002.”
He had unsuccessfully challenged the rejection of his candidature for constable post in Rajasthan high court, which in Oct 2022 had ruled that the fixation of norms squarely fell in the realm of policy, which could not be interfered with by the court.
The Justice Kant-led bench said, “A somewhat similar provision, which was introduced as an eligibility condition to contest panchayat elections, has been upheld by the SC in the case Javed and others vs. State of Haryana in 2003. This court held that the classification, which disqualifies candidates for having more than two living children, was non-discriminatory and intra-vires the Constitution, since the objective behind the provision was to promote family planning.”
The bench dismissed Jat’s appeal saying the HC judgment did not warrant any interference.