New Delhi, Nov. 5 -- The Supreme Court on Wednesday called for a fresh examination of laws across the country that disqualify people with more than two children from contesting local body elections, holding that the population-control rationale behind such restrictions has "lost their relevance" with India's fertility rate falling below replacement levels and the country facing the prospect of an ageing population.

Emphasising that India must guard against a potentially irreversible decline in fertility and frame policies in tune with changing demographic realities, a bench of justices PS Narasimha and Alok Aradhe referred the matter to a larger bench for reconsideration of a 2003 judgment that upheld the two-child norm. The court observ...