New Delhi, July 15 -- The Supreme Court on Tuesday questioned the validity of continuing with the two-child norm for contesting panchayat and other local body elections, observing that the policy, conceived to curb population growth, may have outlived its purpose in light of India's declining fertility rate. A bench of justices PS Narasimha and Alok Aradhe, while hearing a challenge to the disqualification of a Maharashtra sarpanch for having a third child, indicated that it was willing to examine the larger rationale behind retaining such provisions in state laws and sought assistance of advocate Rukmini Bobde as an amicus curiae. "What kind of useless policy is this? Javed Vs State of Haryana needs reconsideration. The country has changed," remarked Justice Narasimha, referring to the Supreme Court's 2003 judgment that upheld the constitutional validity of the two-child norm for candidates contesting local body elections. "To perpetuate this policy to reduce population in the present situation could be completely unconstitutional," observed the bench, questioning the logic of continuing a policy designed to discourage population growth when several states are now grappling with falling fertility rates. "In your generation or my generation, it is a rarity to have three children. It is only one. This policy has lost its effect. It should immediately be withdrawn," justice Narasimha remarked. The observations came while the bench was hearing a petition filed by former Maharashtra sarpanch Mangala Bhimrao Ingle, who challenged a Bo- mbay high court judgment upholding her disqualification under Section 14(1)(j-1) of the Maharashtra Village Panchayats Act, 1959. The provision bars people having more than two children from contesting for the office of a panchayat member or sarpanch....