In a relief to those seeking to contest the upcoming panchayat election, the Uttarakhand High Court has said that aspirants having more than two children born before 25 July, 2019, will be eligible to contest the elections.

The judgement by division bench of chief justice Ramesh Ranganathan and justice Alok Kumar Verma dated September 19, 2019 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 25.07.2019. The said provision shall not be understood as disqualifying those who already have three or more children before 25.07.2019.”

The court order came just ahead of the state panchayat elections, the process of filing nominations for that began on Friday. The court has also said that the law cannot be applied retrospectively.

Congress leader Jot Singh Bisht and others had challenged the provision in the law before the High Court earlier this year.

“It is settled law that it is not the job of the court to decide whether a law is good or bad. Policy matters fall within the realm of the legislature and not of the courts. The court is, however, empowered and has the jurisdiction to decide whether a law is unconstitutional or not,” said the court in the judgement.

The court added that none of the policies of the government of India seeks to punish those who have three children or more.

The panchayat elections in the state will be held in the 12 districts. 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.