Stating that transgenders should be treated only as a separate category irrespective of their caste, the Madras High Court has ordered the Tamil Nadu government not to place them in the female or male category for education and employment.
Justice V Bhavani Subbaroyan in an order passed on June 12, 2024 said that in “every avenue of employment and education”, the government will prescribe special norms for transgenders.
The government will direct all state recruitment agencies to specify transgenders as a separate category and prescribe separate norms for their cut-off point.
The age relaxation open to other special categories will also be extended to transgenders, irrespective of their caste, in future avenues of employment and education.
At no time in the future will the transgender be included in the male or female category, the judge made it clear.
Allowing a petition by R Anushri, a transgender who was denied the opportunity to be considered for the combined civil services examination for the year 2017-18, which were for services after group II A without interview under various categories, the judge said that by the applicant Tamil Nadu Public Service Commission will allow the applicant to upload documents for certificate verification.
The judge said that the petitioner has been placed in the category of scheduled caste women and has been denied permission by the Tamil Nadu Public Service Commission (TNPSC) to upload her certificate for verification as she had scored less than the prescribed cutoff for women. scheduled caste.
The approach of TNPSC is inconsistent and had not categorized transgenders as a separate category. Also, inclusion of the petitioner in the category of woman was contrary to the order passed by the Supreme Court and the Madras High Court, the judge added.
The Apex Court has clearly said that transgenders should be treated as unique and should not be treated as one of male or female. In fact, when Punjab had placed all transgenders under the male category, the high court had declared such a move illegal and unsustainable.
It is also worth noting that transgenders were placed in the caste they were born into and treated in the said category. This was not helpful and harmful to their development, the judge added.
In her order, the judge said that though the National Legal Service Authority case was decided by the Supreme Court on April 15, 2014, however, neither the state government nor the central government has come forward to ‘formulate a uniform mode of employment. opportunities to offer transgender people.
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