The Supreme Court said laws that penalise having more than two children have “lost their relevance” because of falling fertility, and referred its 2003 ruling in Javed v. State of Haryana to a larger bench.

The Court held that such laws can violate Article 21, which includes reproductive autonomy.

• Ageing ahead: A TFR below replacement means an older population and a shrinking working-age share. The 60+ share rose from 8.3% (2014) to 9.7% (2024), and is projected at nearly 15% by 2036.
• Population is not a drag: The old view that population harms development “does not hold water”. The focus should be on healthy growth.
• China’s lesson: China ended its one-child policy in 2015 and allowed three children in 2021, but births did not rise. Fertility cannot be “calibrated at will”.
• Reproductive autonomy (Article 21): Population control alone cannot justify coercion on a couple’s decision to have children.
• Political participation: Linking motherhood to political representation forces a choice between having children and taking part in democracy.
• Time matters: Earlier precedents do not stop the Court from examining present realities when the foundation of a law has changed.
• States: Seven States have repealed the two-child norm, and fifteen never had one.

• Rights: Strengthens reproductive autonomy and the right to political participation, especially of women, who are often hit hardest by such disqualifications.
• Demography: Shifts policy from population control to preparing for an ageing society.
• Federalism: Local body qualifications are set by State laws, so the larger bench’s decision will affect several States.

• Mixed demographic picture: India’s population is still large and growing because of demographic momentum, and TFR varies across States.
• Coercive laws persist: Several States still have such laws.
• Social effects: Disqualification laws can push families towards sex-selective practices and cause hardship to women, a concern raised in earlier debates.

• Article 243F: Sets the disqualifications for membership of a panchayat, including disqualification under State law.
• TFR: The average number of children a woman would have in her reproductive years. The replacement rate is 2.1.
• Article 21: Right to life and personal liberty, held to include reproductive choices.