Supreme Court refuses to entertain pleas on two-child norm for controlling population; check details

The Supreme Court on Friday (November 18) refused to entertain a batch of pleas, including one seeking steps for enforcing a two-child norm to control the rising population, saying it is for the government to look at the issue.

The top court, citing media reports about India's population stabilising despite the rise in births, said it is not an issue where the court should interfere.

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"Population is not something that one fine day it stops," a bench of Justices SK Kaul and AS Oka observed orally. Advocate Ashwini Kumar Upadhyay, one of the petitioners, said a report from the Law Commission on the issue is very important.

It is reportedly said that Upadhyay filed a petition in the top court challenging an order of the Delhi High Court dismissing a plea seeking certain steps, including a two-child norm, to control the rising population.

After the apex court said it was not inclined to entertain the plea, he withdrew it. Besides his plea, the bench also refused to entertain some other petitions filed on the issue, prompting the advocates to withdraw them. "How do we go into enacting a legislation?" the bench asked at the outset.

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The bench also asked how can the commission prepare a report on population explosion. The bench observed the issue raised was about the two-child norm and it was for the government to consider it. It said the court cannot go into this as there are several social and family issues involved.

"Is this an issue on which we should interfere? We have better things to do," the apex court orally observed.

On January 10, 2020, the apex court had sought replies from the Centre and others to the plea challenging the high court order. The appeal had challenged the September 3, 2019 high court order which said it was for Parliament and state legislatures to enact laws and not for the court.

(With inputs from PTI)