CHANDIGARH, November 11: A division bench of the Punjab and Haryana High Court comprising Justices Amarjit Chaudhary and V C Aggarwal upheld the provisions of the Haryana Panchayati Raj Act which bars any person from holding the office of a panch or sarpanch if he or she has more than two children.

The right to election is not a fundamental right and it could be restricted for economic and social justice, the court said. The bench dismissed writ petitions challenging the Haryana Panchayati Raj Act on the ground that there was no such clause in the Representation of People's Act. It was urged that some of the petitioners were Muslims and would thus be governed by the personal law. As regards Muslim petitioners, the court ruled that personal law is also not a fundamental right. Moreover, the legislation did not interfere in their practice or propagation of religion. The Act, it was held, is a special law and shall apply to all persons irrespective of their caste and religion. The bench observed: ``In the recent years, the country's population rise has been alarming. The Government, in order to check the same, has introduced various projects to implement family planning which have been entrusted to various agencies, one of which is the gram panchayat. It is expected from the panches and sarpanches to set good examples and they are supposed to maintain the norm of two children. If they themselves violate the same, what examples can they set before the public?'' The court ruled that it was not only desirable, but essential that family planning programmes are maintained.

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