A bench of Justices Surya Kant, Dipankar Datta and KV Vishwanathan dismissed the appeal filed by former soldier Ram Lal Jat. He retired from service in 2017.
Supreme Court New Order: Now the ‘two children’ policy has been made mandatory for candidates contesting Panchayat elections in Rajasthan as well as for government jobs. Its approval has also been received from the Supreme Court. This is a shock for candidates with more than two children who are looking for a government job. Let us tell you that about 21 years ago, the Supreme Court had made this policy mandatory for Panchayat elections.
A bench of Justices Surya Kant, Dipankar Datta and KV Vishwanathan dismissed the appeal filed by former soldier Ram Lal Jat. He retired from service in 2017 and had applied for the post of constable in Rajasthan Police on 25 May 2018.
His candidature was rejected under Rule 24(4) of the Rajasthan Police Subordinate Services Rules, 1989. There is a provision under Rajasthan Various Services (Amendment) Rules, 2001 that if a candidate has more than two children on or after June 1, 2002, he will not be eligible for government job. Let us tell you that Ram Lal Jat has more than two children. He had earlier challenged the government’s decision in the Rajasthan High Court. While giving its verdict in October 2022, the High Court had said that it had refused to intervene in this matter.
A bench led by Justice Kant said, “A similar provision was introduced as an eligibility condition for contesting panchayat elections. The same has been upheld by the Supreme Court in 2003 in the case of Javed and others versus State of Haryana. Under Disqualifies candidates if they have more than two living children. The purpose of this provision was to promote family planning.”
The bench rejected Jat’s appeal saying that there was no need for any interference in the High Court’s decision.
