A reasonable classification based on intelligible differentia does not violate Article 14 of the Constitution.

AMARJEET CHAUDHARY, A.C.J.

1. This order will dispose of Civil Writ Petition Nos. 11439, 457, 3575, 7664, 8984, 9011, 9110, 9122, 9334, 10536, 10784, 11668, 11791, 12140, 12313, 12475, 13088, 13754, 13877 and 14766 of 1997 as common questions of fact and law are involved in the same.

2. In all these cases, the petitioners have challenged the constitutional validity of S. 175 (1) (q) of the Haryana Panchayati Raj Act, 1994 as it impinges upon ones right to life and liberty and also violates Article 14 of the Constitution of India. The relevant provisions are reproduced as under :-

"175. Disqualifications (1) No person shall be a Sarpanch, Up-Sarpanch or a Panch of a Gram Panchayat or a member of a Panchayat Samiti or Zila Parishad or continue as such who;(a) to (p) xx xx xx(q) has more than two living children :Provided that a person having more than two children on or upto the expiry of one year of the commencement of this Act, shall not be deemed to be disqualified.

3 Section 175 (1) (q) of the Act restricts the number of children which a person can have. A person can have any number of children and he should incur no disqualification on this score if he has any number of children for the office of Sarpanch or Up-Sarpanch or Panch of a Gram Panchayat or a member of a Panchayat Samiti or Zila Parishad or continue as such as there is no such provision in the Representation of the People Act, 1951. It has been argued that there is no provision in the Representation of the People Act, that a person having more than two children cannot seek election to the Legislative Assembly or the Parliament. There is also no provision that if a person having more than two children gets another child on or upto the expiry of one year of the date when he gets selected shall cease to hold his seat in the Legislature or Parliament. It has also been argued that Article 14 of the Constitution of India does not prohibit reasonable classifica-tion based on intelligible differentia. Legislature could treat villages differently by incorporating this provision for making the slogan "Limit your families to two children norm" a reality.

4. On notice of motion having been issued, the respondents have put in appearance. In some of the Writ Petitions, Written Statements have been filed wherein the pleas raised by the petitioners have been controverted.

5. We have heard counsel for the parties and perused the paper book.

6. In Civil Writ Petition No. 15714 of 1996, "Lala Ram V/s. State of Haryana", the constitutional validity of the said provision has been challenged. The Division Bench of this Court upheld the vires of the said provision. The concluding part reads :

"Provisions of Sec. 175 (1) (q) of the Act are not unconstitutional. These do not violate Article 21 of the Constitution. Article 21 of the Constitution of India says that no person shall be deprived of his life or personal liberty except according to the procedure established by law. To make life meaningful, worth living, the legislature can provide (for) limiting ones family. How can the State assure one the right to work, education and to public assistance in cases of unemployment, old age, sickness and disablement and in other cases of undeserved want if there is no check on the growth of population. Constitutional dream inhering in Article 41 of the Constitution of India will remain only an idle dream and will never be translated into reality if there is no check on population growth through some legislative measure."

7. The constitutional validity of Sec. 19 of the Panchayati Raj which is pari materia was also challenged in a bunch of Writ Petitions before the Rajasthan High Court. In all these petitions, the members of Panchayati Raj Institutions were aggrieved against the imposition of the restrictions on having more than two children which was incorporated in Sec. 19 (L) of the Panchayati Raj Act, 1994. In AIR 1954 SC 493 (State of Madhya Pradesh V/s. G. C. Mandawar) and AIR 1988