Stating that the issue was not within the scope of judicial intervention, a bench of Acting Chief Justice Sujoy Paul and Justice Renuka Yara dismissed a PIL challenging Section 21(3) of the Panchayat Raj Act, 2018, which prohibits candidates having more than two children from contesting local body elections.
The PIL, filed by a petitioner from Nalgonda district, argued that the prohibition imposed by the Telangana State Election Commission and the state government was unjust. However, the court noted that the matter involved individual interest rather than public interest.
During the proceedings, counsel for the petitioner repeatedly referred to a Supreme Court judgment from 2003, which upheld the provision and insisted that the High Court follow the apex court’s decision. Acting Chief Justice Paul pointed out that, given current changes such as diminishing fertility rates, lawmakers should reconsider the matter.
Counsel, however, Justice Paul during the dictation of the order, prompting the bench to impose a fine of Rs 25,000 on the petitioner to be paid to the State Legal Services Authority.