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Urban body elections: Row over two-child rule reaches Jharkhand high court
“I have filed a writ petition in the HC challenging the rejection of my nomination from Ward No. 24 of the AMC by the returning officer (RO) on the ground that I have more than two children, even though my first child was born in 2007, before the cut-off year of 2013, and I later had twins in a single delivery in 2023. However, the RO for the AMC mayoral poll accepted and allowed the nomination of mayoral candidate Bhuglu Soren alias Dabba Soren, even though he, too, has one first child and later had twins. It amounts to a violation of Article 14 of the Constitution, which guarantees equality before the law and equal protection of the law,” Abhi Mukhi told HT on Saturday.
The controversy over the alleged selective application of the two-child rule in the upcoming municipal elections has reached the Jharkhand high court, with an Adityapur Municipal Corporation ward councillor candidate challenging the rejection of his nomination while other candidates with similar circumstances were allowed to contest, people aware of the development said on Saturday.
“I have filed a writ petition in the HC challenging the rejection of my nomination from Ward No. 24 of the AMC by the returning officer (RO) on the ground that I have more than two children, even though my first child was born in 2007, before the cut-off year of 2013, and I later had twins in a single delivery in 2023. However, the RO for the AMC mayoral poll accepted and allowed the nomination of mayoral candidate Bhuglu Soren alias Dabba Soren, even though he, too, has one first child and later had twins. It amounts to a violation of Article 14 of the Constitution, which guarantees equality before the law and equal protection of the law,” Abhi Mukhi told HT on Saturday.
People familiar with the developments said Satyendra Kumar, the RO for Ward No. 24, which is reserved for Scheduled Caste (SC), rejected Mukhi’s nomination because he has three children, counting the twins as two children and not as a single unit.
“Our petition has been admitted in the HC, and we have also submitted a revision application to the JSEC on Saturday, praying for quashing and setting aside the RO’s decision rejecting my client’s nomination and permitting him to contest the municipal elections. We have also cited the Supreme Court (SC) judgment in Javed vs State of Haryana in 2003, which ruled that involuntary events such as the birth of twins cannot be treated on the same footing as intentional violation of population control norms,” Pulak Sethi, advocate of Abhi Mukhiya, told HT on Saturday.
In his revision application to the Jharkhand State Election Commission (JSEC), Mukhi termed the rejection as “selective”, “arbitrary” and “without application of mind”.
“Or, in the alternative, direct uniform and equal application of the two-child norm by taking appropriate action against the similarly placed AMC mayoral candidate who has been wrongly permitted to contest and pass any other order or direction deemed fit and proper in the interest of justice, fairness and constitutional mandate,” the application, a copy of which is with HT, read.
Meanwhile, Jugsalai Nagar Parishad (JNP) chairperson candidate Aarti Choudhary has also announced that she will move the HC challenging the RO’s decision to reject her nomination on Friday under the two-child SEC rule.
“We will be filing a writ petition in the HC on Monday against the rejection of my wife’s nomination for the JNP chairperson post on Friday, on the grounds of having one first child and later having twins. We have lodged a review petition with the East Singhbhum DC and district election officer (DEO) in this regard, citing the fact that AMC mayoral candidate Bhuglu Soren has been allowed to contest the elections even though he too has identical childbirth records as us. The nomination of Amreen Parveen from JNP Ward No. 10 has also been allowed despite similar circumstances. The law cannot be different or applied selectively in the same state or municipal bodies,” Anup Mishra alias Jyoti Mishra, husband of Aarti Choudhary, told HT on Saturday.
