Uttarakhand Gram Panchayat election 2019: HC allows candidates with more than two children to contest, but with rider

In a relief to those seeking to contest the upcoming panchayat election, the Uttarakhand High Court on Thursday said that aspirants having more than two children born before 25 July, 2019, will be eligible to contest the elections. [caption id=“attachment_7127751” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] File image of Uttarakhand High Court. News18[/caption] The two-member bench of the high court said that the law will be applicable to only those parents who had a third child or more after 25 July, 2019. The high court order came ahead of the state panchayat elections, which is scheduled to start from 6 October, 2019. The BJP-led state government earlier in July had inserted a provision in the Uttarakhand Panchayat Raj Amendment Act, 2019, that said parents with more than two children will be disqualified from filing nomination and contesting the panchayat elections, News18 reported. The judgment by the division bench of Chief Justice Ramesh Ranganathan and Justice Alok Kumar Verma stated: “We, therefore, read down Section 8(1)(r) and declare that the disqualification from contesting elections to Panchayati Raj Institution, in terms of the said provision, would apply only to cases where persons, having two children or more, have a third child or more after 25 July, 2019. The said provision shall not be understood as disqualifying those who already have three or more children before 25 July, 2019”, said the high court order. Congress leader Jot Singh Bisht and others had challenged the provision brought in the law by the Trivendra Singh Rawat-led BJP government before the High Court earlier this year, The New Indian Express reported. The panchayat elections in the state will be held in the 12 districts. Candidates can start filing nominations from 20 September. The first phase of voting for the panchayat elections will be held on 6 October, followed by the second phase of voting on 11 October and the final phase of voting on 16 October. The results for all phases of the election will be announced on 21 October. With inputs from agencies