समाचार Samāchār · India · 4 November 2026

Supreme Court says two-child laws have lost relevance. Six states still have them

Two judges sent the 2003 Javed ruling to a larger bench. India’s fertility rate has fallen from about 3 to 1.9 since it was written.

The Supreme Court said on Wednesday that laws penalising families with more than two children have lost their relevance. It did not strike them down. Justices P S Narasimha and Alok Aradhe referred the question to a larger bench, to reconsider Javed v State of Haryana. That 2003 ruling upheld a two-child bar on panchayat posts. Until the larger bench rules, the laws stand.

The case is small and specific. Mangala Bhimrao Ingle was elected sarpanch of Kakoda gram panchayat in Maharashtra. She was removed after the birth of her third child, under Section 14(1)(j-1) of the Maharashtra Village Panchayats Act, 1959. The Bombay High Court upheld that in August 2025. The Supreme Court stayed the High Court’s order, and she keeps the post until her appeal is decided.

The numbers moved under the law. India’s total fertility rate was about 3 when Javed was decided. It is now 1.9, below the replacement rate of 2.1. The population is not yet falling. It is getting older. The share of people aged 60 and above rose from 8.3% in 2014 to 9.7% in 2024, and government projections put it near 15% by 2036. The bench cited China, which ended its one-child policy in 2015 and allowed three children in 2021. Its line: “We cannot ride into the future on a horse that is dead.”

The bench also placed reproductive choice under Article 21. It said the bar “compels an unconscionable choice between bearing children and democratic participation”. It recorded the cost to women, citing a 2009 study sponsored by the Ministry of Panchayati Raj that found forced abortions, abandoned pregnant wives and denied paternity. A compilation by amicus curiae Rukmini Bobde shows seven states have repealed the norm and 15 have no such policy. Assam, Goa, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Odisha and Uttarakhand retain it.

The Registry must now place the judgment before the Chief Justice of India to constitute the bench. No date is set. The Economic Survey 2025-26 expects India’s working-age population to cross 98 crore over the next decade. That is the number to plan around.

What a founder takes from it: A rule written for a 2003 fear still decides who may run a village in six states. India’s working-age bulge is a window, not a permanent asset. The jobs and the skills have to be built while it is open.