In the lawsuit, Yang Zhizhu, an assistant professor at China Youth University for Political Sciences, said that the draconian measure aimed at controlling the population need to be revised, if not scrapped altogether.
Enforcing its one-child policy strictly, the authorities suspended Yang from his teaching position in April 2010 after it was discovered that his wife had given birth to a second child in December 2009.
The Haidian District population and family planning commission had also fined him 240,642 yuan (USD 36,300) and barred his child from obtaining house hold registration crucial for school, job and marriage.
"Without a hukou (household registration), she is not entitled to go to school, find a job or get married," Yang told state-run Global Times.
44-year-old Yang challenged the government actions by suing local family planning authorities in an attempt to promote the need to have the policy revised, if not scrapped altogether.
The trial of his came up for hearing at the local court in Haidian. This is perhaps a rare case that a Chinese citizen went court challenging the government policy under the Communist system.
"I don't deserve such a harsh punishment. I do not think I will win the lawsuit, but I want my case to raise public awareness, and hope to eventually prompt legislators to change or revoke birth-control regulations. There are a lot of loopholes," Yang, told the daily.
However, Yang himself had ruled out the possibility the family-planning policy could be cancelled as "it goes against China's conditions".